


The Light after the Darkness

by AnatomyFreak



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Dehumanization, Fever, Forced Drug Use, Gen, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Illness, Injured Keith (Voltron), Injured Shiro (Voltron), Injury, Keith (Voltron) Angst, Keith (Voltron) Whump, Locked in a Cage, Medical Descriptions, Muzzled, Non-Consensual Touching, Nudity, Recovery, Rehabilitation, Sick Keith (Voltron), Trauma, Vomiting, injury descriptions, touch starvation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 10:28:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25469311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnatomyFreak/pseuds/AnatomyFreak
Summary: Inspired by IcyPanther’s Here For Your Entertainment. Please read that first!The aftermath of Keith getting rescued from the circus he had been kept as an attraction.(I suck at summaries.)
Comments: 49
Kudos: 154





	1. Day 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Here For Your Entertainment](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16385654) by [IcyPanther](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcyPanther/pseuds/IcyPanther). 



“We should get him inside to the infirmary.” Allura said quietly, not wanting to break up the reunion between brothers.

Keith at Shiro through teary eyes before nodding. He felt Allura’s arms slide back under him, supporting his back and under his knees. Allura stood up and they started walking inside the castle. Shiro walked alongside Allura, his hand stroking Keith’s hair. Lance ran ahead to the infirmary to let Coran know they were coming.

Eyes growing heavy, Keith let himself doze with the comfort of his brother’s hand on his head and the smooth rocking motion of Allura walking swiftly. Somewhere along the way, he briefly came to more awareness of his stomach growing queasy. 

“Princess!” Coran shouted.

Keith recoiled and tried to shrink himself smaller at the loud voice. Allura’s arms prevented him from curling up as she quickly adjusted to prevent him from toppling out of her arms at the sudden movements.

“Quieter, Coran!” Allura hushed him. She set Keith down on a bed with the covers turned down. “It’s okay, Keith. Just Coran.”

Keith whimpered, not liking the childish noise coming from him. He immediately curled up on his side once his body hit the soft surface.

Soft.

A bed.

When was the last time he laid down in a bed?

He felt a few tears wet his cheeks as he relaxed enough to let his arms fall from being curled up to his chest to lay on the blanket that was still covering him. Keith could just let the softness of the pillow swallow him as long as it meant that he could sleep in peace.

Suddenly, he felt the blanket being opened and the cool air rushing towards his bare chest and going down towards his legs reminding him that he had no clothes.

“No, no!” Keith cried, panicking. The blanket was the first piece of any kind of cloth covering him since… forever. He flailed out trying to find the edge of the blanket to tug it back over him. Little did he know, his long fingernails accidentally scratched Lance on the hand. Lance immediately let go and winced as he stepped back. 

“Hey, hey,” Shiro said gently. “It’s okay, it was just Lance.”

“Please,” Keith whispered. “No… I don’t…” He stuck a hand out of the blanket, found the edge of the bed, rolled over, and vomited onto the floor. 

Nothing but the water he ingested earlier came out in a more viscous and green bile tinted liquid. He continued to vomit until his stomach was empty and was just dry-heaving at that point. When he felt like he was done, he groaned as he tried to roll back onto his back onto the soft bed. “S-sor, sorry.” Keith whispered. “Ple’se… I’m… didn mean,” His face scrunched up with the thought of a taser shocking coming his way.

His ears were met with an onslaught of voices trying to soothe him but that just made him curl up even more in the blanket. He brought his arms up to his head to protect it from the threat of so many people around him. Too many things were going on at once. Too much light, too much movement, too many people. Too much, too much too much too much-

Suddenly, it was quiet. A hand was stroking his shoulder from on top of the blanket. He could hear footsteps fading away.

“Keith.”

He shuddered in the blanket, his eyes still shut tight.

“Keith.”

He let out a sob, his arms still shielding his face.

“It’s just the two of us. It’s okay. You’re safe.”

Safe?

Home. He was home. 

Allura. Lance. Coran.

Shiro.

He cracked open his eyes. 

The lights were dimmed, only one person in front of him. 

“Hey.” Shiro smiled gently.

“Shiro.” Keith horsley whispered. “Shiro.” 

Shiro laid his hand across his face. “Just the two of us, brother.”

Keith let himself lean into his hand. He was safe and he was home. His family was here.

“I know you want to keep the blanket.” Shiro said gently. “Can we get some real clothes on you? It’ll be more comfy and you’ll be warmer once you wear something.”

He nodded but clutched the blanket tighter to his naked body.

Shiro didn’t let the motion go unnoticed. “We’ll do this a little at a time, okay? Can Allura come over and help?”

Keith nodded jerkily as he shivered under the blanket. He was growing colder despite being covered.

Allura walked slowly to Shiro’s side. “Can we get this on you, Keith? You’ll be much more comfortable.” She asked softly.

He looked down to see a pair of soft teal pants in her hands. Keith let out a sob as he nodded. He had never wanted pants so badly in his life.

“I’m going to open the blanket, okay? But just enough for you to get them on.” Shiro said. “You can keep the blanket around your chest.”

Keith nodded as he braced himself for the rush of cool air to touch the skin on his legs. Shiro lifted the blanket only half way, effectively shielding him from the rest of the room. Allura got the legs through before asking him to lift his hips to slide the rest of the pants up to his protruding hip bones. He felt his cheeks redden with shame and embarrassment but he never felt anything more soft touching his legs and thighs. 

Shiro laid the blanket back on top of him, taking note of the wide gashes on his ankles. “You did good. You’re okay, brother.” He soothed, his hand going back to Keith’s face and rubbing small circles into his gaunt cheeks. “Can we do your shirt now?”

“Please.” Keith said, a lone tear leaking from his eyes.

“I’ll need you to sit up for this, Keith. Can you do that or do you need help?” Allura asked as she held the soft teal shirt in her hands.

Keith took a deep breath in through his nose. He felt exhausted but if it meant he could wear clothes, he would do it. 

Still gripping the blanket, he tried to sit up on his own but he felt his stomach lurch with the effort. He quickly brought a hand up to his mouth and tried breathing through his nose. A basin appeared under his chin as an arm brought him up to a sitting position. Keith gagged into the basin as nothing came up except for spittle. Mucus coming out of his nose and tears coming out of his eyes as his stomach rebelled. He gasped for air as his stomach gave him a brief reprieve. Feeling a hand gently patting his back, he slowed down his near hyperventilated breaths. He looked up from the basin to see Lance with a small white towel in his hand offering it to him. Keith took it with a shaky hand, nodding gratefully. He wiped his mouth, wincing as the cloth rubbed the raw skin around his lips and nose where the muzzle used to be.

“Feel better?” Shiro asked, his hand still patting his back.

Keith nodded through blurry eyes. What little energy he had was spent and he wanted nothing more than to lay down and sleep.

“Let’s get this on you and we’ll let you lay down, Keith.” Allura said as she bunched the shirt up so he could stick his head through first. She let him slide it over his head, being careful of the wounds on his face, then let him slowly fold his arms up one at a time and stick it through the arm holes before letting the rest of the fabric fall against his back and chest.

He let his head fall backwards and groaned in delight of feeling the shirt touch his body. Shiro slid a hand along his neck and slid his hair out from under the shirt. Allura gently lowered him back onto the bed and slipped her hand out from under his head to let him rest on the pillow. Keith’s hands weakly grasped for the blanket, wanting to close himself back in its warmth. Lance took the edge of the black wool blanket and guided Keith’s hands to it, making sure it was tucked around his neck.

Keith blinked heavily, finally feeling safe and warm. He could make out Allura and Lance moving around him. Turning his head to the side to nestle on the blanket he brought up to his jaw, he could see Shiro right by his head.

Shiro cupped his face in his hand and rubbed Keith’s cheek again. “It’s okay if you want to sleep. We’re not going anywhere. I promise.”

“Number- Keith?” Coran’s voice sounded from the other side of the bed.

He turned his head to face the orange haired Altean who was holding a small dull red disk in his hand.

“I’m going to put this on your neck so we can keep an eye on your vitals okay? You seem to have started to run a fever.” He said softly. “All you have to do is turn your head towards Shiro and I’ll put it on. It won’t hurt and you won’t even notice it.”

Keith nodded and did what he heard. He moved his face to look at Shiro’s gentle smile again.

“It’s okay, you can sleep. I’ll be right here.” Shiro whispered, his hand moving to stroke his hairline on his forehead. 

“If I fall asleep, you’ll go away… I’m dreaming right now.” Keith said drowsily.

“We’ll be here. This is real, I promise.” Shiro said as he wished nothing more than now that he had another hand to gently squeeze Keith’s hand in between the folds of the blanket.

“Prom’is…?” Keith mumbled as his eyes started to close.

“I promise.” Shiro whispered, watching him drift off and his breath deepen. He felt a tear drip down his cheek, not wanting to remove his hand from Keith’s hair to wipe it away.

A screen above the infirmary gurney flickered to life as the flexible sticker-like disk lit up on the side of his neck. The screen had half Altean and half English words on the screen.

Temperature: 100.2  
Pulse: 99 bpm  
Blood Pressure: 119/76  
Respiration: 18  
Oxygenation Sat: 90%

Shiro frowned at the last number on the screen. “I think he might need a little help with breathing, Coran.” Shiro said.

Coran looked up and his eyebrows knit together slightly. “Right you are, Number One. Let me get an oxygenation system and I’ll be right back.”

Shiro nodded. He sat down on the rolling stool by Keith’s bed and continued to stroke his hair. Deep bags were under his eyes, his nose red and raw from where the muzzle was rubbing up against it, the bridge of his nose had several cuts and scrapes. Shiro drew his thumb across his cheek, ghosting over the rashes on the side of his mouth and cut lips with what seemed to be dried blood caked on.

“Oh, Keith.” Shiro whispered sadly. He pushed the stool he was sitting on back with his legs and laid the side of his head down on a spot of bare mattress. His foot was bothering him more and his energy was slipping away.

“Shiro, you should get some rest.” Allura said from behind him, putting her hands on his back. “He’ll be okay.”

He shook his head. “No, I promised him I would be here.” A wide yawn was more than enough to indicate how tired he was.

Allura thought for a second. She saw the empty infirmary bed next to him and nodded to herself. Going over to the linen closet near the door, she pulled out some extra blankets and another two pillows. 

Coran returned with a clear mask. He bent over Keith and placed it on his face, being careful of the raw skin on his nose and sides of his mouth. The mask lit up a pale blue after a button on the side was pushed and started to morph to fit Keith’s face perfectly. A puff of air briefly fogged up the transparent plastic before clearing up. Slowly, the number on the screen ticked up.

“He’ll get better, Shiro. But now it’s time for you to rest.” Coran murmured. “You can sleep on the bed next to him. You don’t have to leave but you do need to sleep.”

The gray haired man sighed and nodded. He pushed himself up, swaying briefly. Shiro groaned slightly as he stood up. Taking off the rest of his armor, he laid down on the bed in the black under armor. He bent a knee up to alleviate the pain shooting up his foot into his lower leg and knee.

Allura reappeared with pillows in hand and Lance in tow with armfuls of blankets. She set two down on Shiro’s bed and the others on a nearby empty bed. Lance threw a soft blanket onto his chest, landing with a gentle thump while Shiro gave him a slightly annoyed grimace. 

Coran moved over to his bed and rolled up Shiro’s pant leg to mid calf before putting a hand under his ankle and lifting it to place it on the two pillows to elevate it. “Number One, you really did do damage to yourself.” Coran said as he examined the bruises and swelling with his hands. He picked up the scanner he brought over and ran it along his knee down to the tips of toes. “Looks like you managed to break three toes, two foot bones, shattered five of the small bones in your ankle and heel, gave yourself a fracture up your fibula, and untracked your patella. How the quiznak were you able to run out to meet Allura and Lance after jumping from your lion at that height and doing this to yourself?”

Shiro shrugged. “I needed to make sure Keith was okay. Although, some pain reliever would be nice right about now.” He struggled to keep the pain out of his voice. Allura handed him two green pills and a water pouch with the straw stuck in at the ready.

“We’ll wrap this up for right now and then in the morning, you can get into the pod to heal it further.” Coran said as he walked to a cabinet for supplies to splint his lower leg. 

Shiro nodded and took the pills and drained the water pouch. He laid back and closed his eyes while he felt two sets of hands wrapping his leg up with the splint keeping his foot pointing up and soft cloth bandage keeping it in place firmly. Allura unfolded a blanket and covered Shiro up to his shoulders. He murmured his thanks to her and relaxed into the bed. He could see they were turning the lights off but leaving one on at the far end of the room before he closed his eyes and went to sleep, his head turned towards the sleeping red paladin on his left.


	2. Day 1.5

As the lights went off, Allura unfolded a clean thick blanket and draped it over Keith’s body, noting that he was shivering slightly despite still being in the blanket he had been rescued in. She made sure his feet were covered as well as any skin up to his neck. 

Coran came over with a small white stick with a blue stick and slowly unwrapped one side to reveal a puncture ridden forearm. He looked grimmly at the scarred marks covering the skin and found a small area unblemished by the needles. Wiping it clean with an antiseptic wipe and letting it dry for a few seconds, he pulled the skin taut and pressed the blue tip of the stick until it injected a small needle and withdrew a small amount of blood. Allura handed him a piece of gauze after taking it out and applied pressure until the pinprick stopped bleeding. 

“What did they do to this poor boy?” Coran asked Allura quietly, replacing the blankets over his arm.

Allura told him the condition she and Lance found him in as well as how they freed the other animals on the way out. Coran listened on in horror while they both walked to the small lab that was lit at the end of the room. He was silent as he inserted Keith’s blood into the machine. It took a few minutes for it to analyze the blood for drugs, infections, and anything else the monsters injected in him. The machine beeped softly indicating it was finished. As Coran read the screen, his mouth was set in a grim line.

“He’s suffering from three drugs in his bloodstream, prolonged starvation, multiple infections, and pneumonia. He appears that two of the three drugs contraindicated towards one another and the third was the one keeping it from reacting and killing him. One of them literally makes his blood boil causing severe hallucinations and… literally making him regress to primal instincts to ferality.” Coran paused, letting out a sigh.

Allura covered her mouth in horror. Her eyes snapping in anger. “We must bring the being who did this to him to justice. What else does it say, Coran?” She asked

He looked back to the screen. “The second drug is a sedative, the must have used that when he wasn’t being shown off to the disgusting visitors who were shocking him for enjoyment. The levels here show that he had recently been given a large dose which corresponds to when we were able to track him after being transported to the planet we found him on. When that sedative mixes with the previous drug, it looks like it could cause his brain to bleed with two such powerful classes of tranquilizers and stimulants. The third substance found in his blood turns out to be a mixture of vitamins but not able to be absorbed by human systems as well as some kind of antihistamine. Mostly to make sure he didn’t die from the two drugs they put in him for so long.” Coran finished softly. “I’ll have to research these drugs as I’m unfamiliar with their properties and the last thing we want to do is to make him worse with information not known. But for now, I believe we should clean and dress the wounds before more infection sets in and makes everything worse. But quiznak, he is in for the fight of his life.” 

“Do you think we should? Clean his wounds, I mean? We just got both of them to rest.” Allura asked, glancing over to the dark side of the room.

“Yes,” He answered. “As much as may wake him up slightly, we need to do it now.”

Allura sighed. “Alright, let me see where Lance is, it will be easier with his help.”

Coran gathered supplies as Allura walked through the castle to find Lance in his room taking off his armor and sipping at a water pouch. She explained the plan to him and waited for him to slip into more comfortable clothes. 

Keith was soundly asleep by the time the door to the infirmary slid open with a hushed whoosh. His face had relaxed to the point where his mouth was slightly open and his breaths fogged up the mask slightly before clearing in between breaths. Coran was standing by his side with a tray next to him with supplies. A pole with two bags was hanging from the hooks on the top with tubing snaking down and resting on the tray.

“I’ll need to insert a vein valve, Princess.” Coran responded to the questioning look on her face. “He’s severely dehydrated and malnourished from the scan I ran when you were off getting the blue paladin. Unfortunately, several infections have already begun to set in so the cryopod will have to wait until he gets over them.” 

“Where would you put the needle? I don’t think his forearms can take any more poking.” Lance exclaimed quietly. 

“I’ll have to put it on the back of his hand. It seems like the only place where the veins leading back to his heart are undamaged, fortunately. But he may wake up, if that happens I will need you two to calm him down enough to prevent him from hurting himself.” Coran said as he pulled on a pair of gloves.

Allura and Lance nodded. Gently, they unwrapped the blanket and pulled out a left thin arm, wincing at the marks on his forearm. Coran ripped open a thin white pouch and pulled out a white rod with a small sponge on the end that was soaked with a brown liquid and used it to clean the entire back of Keith’s hand. He had barely stirred when the liquid touched the near translucent skin.

“Are you two ready? I’m about to insert the needle.” Coran inquired. 

Lance held his forearm to the bed while Allura took Keith’s other hand in hers and stood over him so if he woke up, he would see her. They both nodded.

“Right, here we go.” Coran announced. 

He angled his hand to insert the needle into Keith’s hand, aiming for the vein directly parallel from his middle finger. The needle glided in smoothly and once Coran saw blood enter the tubing, he used his finger to slide the small thin plastic tube into the puncture before withdrawing the needle and setting it aside.

Keith’s eyebrows furrowed and he groaned into the mask. Allura shushed him and combed her hand through his hair, trying not to notice the greasiness and grime that had built up there. He tried to lift his hand weakly but Lance held it down with a gentle firmness, being cognizant of where the manacles were on his wrist and the punctures on his forearm. Just as quickly as he came to, Keith fell back to unconsciousness. The three of them let out a breath. Coran busied himself by hooking the tubing leading from the bags to the tube that led into Keith, making sure the liquid was flowing at a steady slow rate. He then took a syringe filled a quarter full with a milky liquid and attached it near his hand and slowly pushed the plunger until it was empty. 

“What’s that?” Lance asked curiously.

“A light sedative. I want to make sure he is able to sleep through the night tonight at least so we can address the wounds on him without pain.” Coran looked sadly at Keith. “It would be a mercy to keep the nightmares away on the first night he’s here or he might hurt himself by accident. Now, let’s take a look at his back.”

Allura and Coran adjusted Keith’s left shoulder so Lance could roll him onto his side. There, they peeled the blanket off of his sleeping form and gasped. The infirmary shirt was dotted from his neck down to his hips with blood stains. Coran unbuttoned the gown from where it was attached to his sleeve and opened it to reveal more than two dozen burns, scratches, gashes, and open wounds oozing blood and pus. Looking down at where the blanket had been touching his skin prior to putting on the shirt, he could see that the fabric had absorbed some of the purulent discharge and dark red blood.

“Quiznak.” Coran said under his breath. “We’ll have to get this blanket laundered and another clean shirt for him when we’re done. Can you two hold him on his side while I clean and dress these wounds?” 

The two of them nodded. As tired as they were from the recovery to now, they could stand to stay awake until their friend was taken care of. Coran worked quickly to clean his entire back with antiseptic solution sponges and smeared antibiotic cream on each wound before attaching gauze and tape. He counted a total of twenty six areas that needed attention. Lance and Coran then briefly lifted Keith for Allura to take the blanket away. Grabbing the extra shirt he set aside earlier, Coran swapped out the soiled back for the clean one before gently lowering Keith on his back. Lance took off the front of the hospital shirt, being careful to unbutton the front of sleeve to make sure it didn’t get caught in the vein valve line. There, as Keith laid bare chested, Coran couldn’t believe his eyes. There were more wounds and the puncture wounds were in stark contrast to the bruises and cuts scattered all over his chest and abdomen. 

Lance let out a choked sob, seeing how battered Keith was. Coran reached across and squeezed his shoulder. “Let’s get these cleaned and we’ll all go to sleep, hm?” He asked, his voice portraying no emotion. 

Lance nodded and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. He busied himself with getting the front part of his shirt attached to one sleeve. Coran did the same to the front of Keith as he did to his back. He wasn’t sure whether to be grateful or angry that he counted fourteen pieces of gauze he applied to Keith’s front. Once finished, Coran reached across and grabbed the other side of the infirmary shirt and buttoned it close on the sleeve before he and Lance pulled three blankets up to Keith’s shoulder. 

Allura busied herself with cleaning the gashes around Keith’s wrists. Wrapping them in soft gauze she looked sadly at him. Instead of the heavy metal manacles, they now looked like manacles of bandages instead. She moved down to his ankles and did the same before going up to his neck and applying the bandage as gently as she could, being careful not to wrap the bandage tightly.

Lance sat down heavily on the stool that Shiro vacated earlier as Coran checked the screen with Keith’s vitals.

Temperature: 101.0  
Pulse: 100  
Blood Pressure: 110/72  
Respiration: 14  
Oxygen Saturation: 94%

“His temperature went up.” Allura remarked after returning from putting the blanket in the Altean washer and dryer that all the paladins were fond of (it did the washing and drying in one machine so there was no transferring wet clothes from one machine to the other).

“Yes, but his oxygen has gone up and I’m okay with that for now. We need to let him rest tonight and we’ll get him on antibiotics tomorrow. He needs the nutrient solution and fluids in him before we put more things in his blood.” Coran turned towards his princess and the blue paladins, both of which were sporting dark bags and hunched postures. “And you two need to rest, when was the last time you had sleep?” 

They both stared blankly and Coran sighed. “Away with you two to your quarters to rest. If anything happens overnight, I will page you.”

“But - ” Allura and Lance protested simultaneously. 

“Nope!” Coran cut them off. “I will drag you both to your rooms if I hear another word. There’s nothing left we can do tonight and if you were to stay, it would do more harm than good and I’d rather not have another two beds occupied here.”

The slumped, defeated by the logic in his words. Lance tucked the blanket more warmly around his shoulders before giving a gentle squeeze to his biceps. Allura ran a hand across his hairline and bent to kiss him on the forehead. They both gave Shiro a glance to see him sleeping soundly and walked out.

Coran walked to the foot of Keith’s bed and fiddled with the control panel. There, he pressed the firmness setting and programmed the mattress to feel a bit squishy, like a “waterbed” from what Hunk had explained to him when they first met. The material of the bed transformed under the sheets. Keith’s body conformed to the new firmness and Coran pressed down on an empty space to confirm for himself. 

Satisfied with everything he had done, Coran walked over to the computer, sat down, and started researching the results of the blood test.

“My poor boy, fight. We’re all here for you and we’ll fight with you.” Coran murmured as he pulled up the Altean database.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 7/24/2020


	3. Day 2

Lance entered the infirmary with two steaming cups in hand. Coran was nowhere to be seen and Shiro was sitting up in the bed, having adjusted the upper half to support his back while leaving the lower half flat to elevate his injured leg.

Shiro opened his eyes when he heard the door slide open and smiled gratefully at Lance. “Thanks.” He said gratefully as he took the mug and sipped the liquid. Hunk had found a type of leaf that tasted close enough to coffee and with milk from Kaltenecker, it was a suitable imitation.

Lance nodded as he sipped at his cup. “Where’s Coran?” He asked as he sat down on the stool between Shiro and Lance’s beds.

“He left for a minute to use the bathroom. He’s been here all night.” Shiro leaned his head back against the bed. “This doesn’t seem right. To see him like this.” He said sadly, referring to the red paladin.

“No,” Lance agreed. “It really doesn’t. How did he do last night?” 

“From what I could tell when I woke up, he slept the entire time. I woke up about half an hour ago and he’s still… still.” Shiro said.

They two sat in companionable silence, sipping from their mugs and waking up more fully in Shiro’s case. Lance noticed that the blanket they took last night to get cleaned had been returned and was draped over Keith’s slumbering form.

Suddenly, a red light was flashing on the screen above Keith’s bed. His heart rate and respiratory rate was rising rapidly. Lance shot out of his seat and set his cup on the table that was rolled over Shiro’s lap. 

Keith’s face was scrunched up, his breaths fogging up the mask and he was starting to curl in on himself. He started to moan as he woke up, feeling the mask on his face and the feeling of something in his hand. “No… no…” He groaned out. “No… more…” Lifting his right hand, Keith tried weakly to claw the oxygen mask off his face, giving himself a scratch on the cheek and opening up a dried scab causing it to bleed anew. His breathing was beginning to quicken as he was coming to more awareness, soon he began to hyperventilate and his eyes shot open. 

The door opened and Coran ran to Keith’s bedside on the other side of Lance. He took a quick look at the screen and put a hand on Keith’s forehead.

His eyes were bloodshot and wide as he looked around with blurry vision. Where was he? What was on his face? It feels like the muzzle. His hand hurt with the prick of a needle. What were they putting in him? Keith tried to sit up, pulling his hands to his chest as he felt a hand go to his forehead and he tried to move away. Keith’s other hand felt the tubing and went to try and remove it.

“Keith, Keith!” Lance said, grabbing his hand before he could tug on the clear tape covering the vein valve. “Easy, it’s just me and Coran.” Keith’s eyes darted towards him, panic clear in his face.

“Keith, I need you to slow your breathing.” Coran said, putting a hand on his shoulder. Keith shied away from the touch. “You’re safe. You’re back in the castle. It’s okay. We’re here.”

His eyes darted from Coran to Lance and back and forth. What they were saying sounded garbled in his ears. He continued to breath faster until he started to see stars in his eyes and his head started to feel light headed. It wasn’t until someone took his hand and put it on something moving rhythmically up and down slowly did he start to get control of his breaths. Keith squeezed his eyes shut and focused on breathing in and out. The beeping that had been going crazy in the background slowed and eventually faded away. There now was only the sound of someone inhaling and exhaling audibly for him to hear.

Keith slowly opened his eyes. His vision cleared up to see Lance holding his hand on his own chest and Coran looking at him. He whimpered quietly, feeling the mask around his nose and mouth. Tears started to gather in his eyes. He lifted a hand and placed it on top as if to try and take it off. 

“That’s to help you breath, my boy. Nothing more.” Coran said softly as he took his hand away from his face. “You can still talk with it on. There’s nothing in your mouth.”

Keith continued breathing through his nose for a moment before opening his mouth. “Off… please…” He pleaded in a hoarse whisper.

“You need it, Keith. You have to leave it on.” Lance tried to reason with him. 

Keith shook his head as tears rolled down his face. “Please…” He pleaded again.

“Take it off.”

Coran and Lance turned around to see Shiro with a stricken look on his face. 

“Take it off.” Shiro repeated. “He can’t handle having it on right now.”

Flipping the switch on the side of the mask, Coran waited for the light on the mask to turn off before removing it from Keith’s face. Almost immediately when it was off, Keith broke out into a coughing fit, the sounds coming from deep in his chest. He was coughing with so much force that it pitched his body upright.

An arm wrapped around his chest and back holding him up until the fit subsided. He groaned and hung his head limply as he was being helped to lay back down. Keith could feel the head of the bed moving upright slightly as he settled back into the comfortable mattress. More comfortable than what he remembered from last night. 

Lance pulled the blankets over his shoulders when he saw Keith shaking. “You’re alright. It’s okay.” He murmured. 

Keith turned his head towards him, blinking slowly as if comprehending what he was saying. He pulled his left hand out of the blanket and whimpered sadly towards the tubing on the back of this hand.

“That’s for the nutrients you need, Keith. Your body is in a state of starvation and it couldn’t wait until you woke up. We can’t have you wasting away further on us.” Coran told him gently. “I promise it’s nothing more than what your body needs right now. So we can get you stronger.”

He let his hand fall to the top of the blanket and nodded, resigned to having it there. 

Lance went over to a cabinet and took out a water pouch, stuck the straw into the top, and held it up to Keith’s mouth. “Drink, you look like you need it.” he said.

Keith parted his cracked lips and let Lance guide the straw between them and took a sip. The liquid once again felt heavenly in his mouth and soothed his throat. Soon enough, it was empty and he sucked it until the material shrivelled in Lance’s hand before being taken away. He laid his head back as Coran placed another blanket on top of him.

“Do you think you can answer a few questions right now, Keith?” Coran asked. “You don’t have to talk, simply nod or shake your head.”

He nodded, as much as he wanted to go back to sleep. Coran inquired about his well being at the moment, if he was in pain, if the wounds on his back were bothering him right now, if he wanted something to make him feel more comfortable. Keith nodded to everything Coran questioned him about. He felt the three layers of blankets being pulled back and Lance helped him to roll on his side as a blanket was wrapped around his shoulders and neck before laying back and the other blankets pulled back over. Coran walked away briefly before returning with two small green pills and another water pouch. Keith opened his mouth wide enough for Coran to slip in the pills and the water pouch straw. He sipped only enough to swallow the pills before releasing the straw from his mouth and settled back against the bed, leaning his head against the blanket wrapped around his shoulders and closing his eyes. Listening to the backdrop of footsteps and soft voices, he felt the pull of unconsciousness calling and drifted off.

Shiro looked on as all of this was happening and felt helpless as he sat there with his leg splinted and elevated. He brought a hand up and rubbed his eyes, discreetly rubbing away the tears that came up. “Lance, I need you to do something for me.” He called out quietly, trying to not to wake Keith up.

Lance came over to his side. “Yeah?”

“Push my bed over to Keith’s. Right next to him.” He directed, shifting his legs so it didn’t accidentally fall off the pillows during the three foot move to the left.

Once he was flush against Keith’s bed, Shiro put his hand under the blankets and fished out Keith’s right hand. He ran his thumb over the back of his thumb and caressed his fingers. He squeezed the red paladin’s hand gently, noticing it was trembling even in sleep. 

Lance went back to the small lab where Coran was and left Shiro and Keith alone. Shiro sat there until he heard the door open and Allura came in with a tray full of dishes in her hands. She took one look at the two beds right next to each other and nodded once to herself. Putting the tray on the table, she rolled it until it was over Shiro’s lap. 

He reluctantly let go of Keith’s hand and used his arms to readjust himself. Taking a look at the tray, his stomach growled as his eyes took in the contents. Shiro started on the porridge Hunk had found from the last planet they landed on and found it to be a good substitute for oatmeal. He made small talk with Allura while he ate his breakfast and finished the mug of coffee tea that had been abandoned when Keith had woken up. 

“Ah, princess. I’m glad you’re here.” Coran said when he came to where the three of them were, Lance following close behind.

“How is he? How did he do last night?” Allura asked, taking a seat on the stool beside Shiro’s bed.

“He slept through the night although he gave us quite the morning.” Coran busied himself looking at Keith’s vitals screen and unhooking an empty vein valve bag before hooking up a full one. “I do have a more extensive report on what those barbaric aliens put into Keith.” 

“Oh?” Shiro said surprisingly. He picked up a small bowl of green berries as Lance swiped a purple apple like fruit off the tray. Shiro gave him an annoyed look as Lance smirked before taking a bite.

Coran nodded as he finished connecting the tubing to Keith’s hand. “The drug that was mixed with the vitamins he wasn’t able to absorb turned out to be a type of steroid. Apparently in addition to starving him they still wanted him to be portrayed as a violent and exotic being, which meant he had to look… presentable.” He frowned, the intent behind his words going unsaid. “That means that even though he doesn’t look as frail as we expected to find him, in the next few days he will be losing weight at a rapid rate, unfortunately. It’ll cause him to go through withdrawal as his blood filters it out. The steroid causes his muscles to bulge with retained fluid which makes him look filled out.”

“Those bastards.” Shiro growled, his teeth gritted. 

“In addition, the muzzle that he had been wearing also had a drug, a slow absorbing one. It kept him compliant, so when they weren’t showing him off they could control him. Sedated in addition to the injection.” Coran continued.

“So they gave him two drugs to keep him from trying to escape?” Lance asked.

Coran nodded. “Indeed. The muzzle had some kind of pad lining a metal tray that contained the drug and a type of dye which made his teeth look bloodied when you first saw him, Allura. His teeth are going to be stained orange for quite some time.” 

Allura sighed. “Thank goodness. I was hoping it wasn’t the blood of anyone he had been forced to fight.” 

“Yes, but that might be the least of our problems. The muzzle caused the skin around his mouth and his nose to chafe which we will need to clean soon. It also unfortunately chipped his teeth. I suspect that after the fire drug had done its job and they had injected the sedative, they shoved the muzzle back in. His teeth are sharp and broken. Once he can get into the cryopod, it will be able to repair the damage but for now, once he is up for it, he should only have soft foods. I’m concerned that his teeth will cause damage to the inside of his mouth as he chews.” Coran finished.

They all stayed silent, taking in the news of Coran’s research. Allura wiped away a stray tear when she gathered the strength to look up at Keith’s sleeping form. “Keith shouldn’t be alone. We… we should take turns being at his side.” 

“I agree. I can ask Hunk to make some broths for him to have when he wakes up, maybe some mashed up fruit, too. Something easy for him to swallow.” Lance said. 

“Let’s limit how many people can be in here until he’s better, too.” Shiro said, running a hand over his face as the pain in his leg flared up. “He seemed to do better when only one person talks to him when he wakes up. It might be too much for him right now to have so many of us around him when he was surrounded by those who kept him in that hell hole.” 

Coran looked towards Shiro. “We should take care of your leg, Number One. With everything that went on last night, it’s time we get you in the pod.”

Shiro shook his head. “I can’t leave him. I won’t leave him alone. Leave it to heal by itself.” He tried not to show any pain in his face as he shifted his hips on the bed.

“Unfortunately, with your injuries, you’re risking nerve damage. It’s imperative that you let the crypod repair your leg.” Coran insisted.

“I’ll stay with Keith while you’re in the cryopod and you can sleep here when you get out.” Allura said.

“No, I should. You need to steer the castle and take care of any transmissions.” Lance argued.

Coran looked on in amusement as they continued to argue amongst themselves. He thought of how Keith would be rolling his eyes if he knew they were arguing over him.

“How about,” Coran interrupted before the noise roused Keith. “Lance, you go tell Hunk about making broth and mashed fruit. Allura, you go fetch Shiro’s cryosuit from the healing pod room. I’ll go get a wheelchair and Shiro can stay here until Allura comes back, I go help Shiro into the pod and then Lance can sit with Keith when he returns.”

The two paladins and Allura looked at him and blinked before nodding, each heading off to do their assigned task.

Shiro leaned back into the bed and grasped Keith’s hand again as he waited. He hummed a small tune as he tried to not think of how much time he would be away from Keith’s side. A tune from his childhood, a song his mother used to sing him to sleep. Keith stirred a bit and Shiro stopped.

Keith groggily opened his eyes and turned his head to look at Shiro. 

Shiro gave him a soft smile and squeezed his hand. He could tell that Keith wasn’t really aware of actually being awake. “Hey, everything’s okay. Go back to sleep.” He told him gently.

The red paladin nodded and closed his eyes, succumbing to the wave of darkness that came over him just as quickly as he had awoken.

Shiro sighed, wanting nothing more than to have two arms right now to hold Keith’s hands in both of his. He started humming again as he waited.

Allura came back with a neatly folded bundle of white clothes in her hands to the sight of Shiro rubbing Keith’s hand with his thumb. “Is he alright?” She asked as she walked up to his bedside.

Shiro nodded. “He woke up for a second but we went right back to sleep.”

Helping him into the cryosuit, it was just enough time for Coran to return with a wheelchair. The two of them helped Shiro transfer from the bed to the chair as Lance also returned from the kitchen with a tablet in hand.

“Told Hunk to start thinking about making some food for Keith. Pidge told me to tell you guys that she has an arm for you, Shiro. It’s not the Galran one, but one she said would work in the meantime until she can improve the one she’s been working on for the last few months.”

Shiro nodded as he winced when Coran brought the leg rest up to hip level to keep his leg straight. “Sounds good. I’ll go to her after I’m done with the cryopod.”

Lance took a seat on another stool that was by Keith’s left hand and the vein valve tubing. “You go get better, I’ll stay here until you’re done.”

“I’ll be back in a few doboshes, Lance. If anything happens, just com me and I’ll be running back in.” Coran said as he started to wheel Shiro out of the infirmary.

Once the door closed behind Allura who was following them out, Lance let out a deep sigh. Glancing down to Keith’s face, it seemed that he was still tense even in unconsciousness. 

“We’ve got you mullethead. Just get better soon.” Lance murmured as he turned on his tablet and settled in for as long as it took Shiro to finish healing his leg.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a review. I love getting comments and it motivates me to continue writing and updating if people are enjoying and looking forward to this. Thank you!
> 
> 7/27/2020


	4. Day 2.5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for brief death and resusitatiom.

Coran had briefly come back to the infirmary to inform Lance that it would be four or five vargas until Shiro was finished in the cryopod and that he would be with the princess helping to steer the castle and repairing the particle shield. They had parked the castle in a distant galaxy that was far removed from any activity from the Galran empire and elected to stay there while Keith recovered, however long it took.

Lance was in the middle of completing diagnostic tests of Blue and started to run weapons checks on her when he heard alarms going off and a choking sound coming from the bed.

Dropping his tablet on the ground he stood up to see Keith’s eyes wide open and a hand going to his throat. He was looking around wildly and almost convulsing.

“Shit!” Lance swore. He quickly picked up his table and hailed Coran.

“Lance, what’s wrong?” A video popped up immediately with his face on it.

“This!” Lance pointed the camera towards Keith for two seconds before dropping it on the bed beside Keith. “He’s choking or something. He was asleep a second ago and now everything is going off!” 

“I’m coming right now. What do the numbers on the screen say?” Coran yelled into the screen. Lance could hear him running through the halls.

He pulled his eyes up from Keith and read the screen out loud.

Temperature: 102.3 F  
Pulse: 176 bpm  
Blood Pressure: 72/50  
Respiratory Rate: 28  
Oxygen Saturation: 88%

“Quiznack!” Coran swore as the door opened and came running to the otherside of Keith’s bed. “He’s going into anaphylaxis!”

“What the hell is that?!” Lance yelled.

“He’s reacting to something he’s allergic to!” Coran yelled back as he pulled over a cart and yanked open a drawer to grab a red syringe, inserted the tip into the tubing, and pushed the plunger all the way down in one hard motion.

“Put the mask on him, Lance. His oxygen is going down!” Coran said as he threw the empty syringe on the ground and grabbed another one.

“But he can’t tolerate it!” Lance argued. “You saw what happened last time!” 

“He can be mad at us later but he can’t be mad at us when he’s dead!” 

Lance grabbed the clear mask from the table. He looked at Keith’s panicked face and felt his stomach drop. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. You can hate me after this.” He said and placed the mask on Keith’s face and held it there as it lit up blue and molded to his face. 

Keith shook his head as he tried to get air into his lungs, his gasping breaths getting faster and faster. He weakly tried to prevent Lance from putting the mask on his face before his vision started to black out.

As Coran pushed in the third syringe into the tubing, Keith’s eyes rolled back into his head and he went limp on the bed. He had passed out.

Lights in the infirmary started flashing, filling the room up in red light and a loud alarm sounded. 

Coran let out a loud Altean swear and Lance looked up at the screen and zeroed into one vital.

Pulse: 0 bpm

“Lance, I need you to start pumping his chest. Now!” Coran ran to grab a cart near the side of the small lab on the other side of the infirmary.

Lance put both hands on his Keith’s chest, one on top of the other, and pushed down. He pushed down as hard as he could and looked in horror as he felt something cracking under his palms and Keith’s stomach bulging up through the shirt when he pushed. 

“Coran, his- his ribs!” Lance choked out. 

“It’s okay, those will heal! Keep pushing, hard and fast!” Coran was pushing the cart in front of him as he ran.

Lance tried to remember what the Garrison had told him to do during the life saving basics class for CPR. 

Coran ripped open a slim packet that held two stickers. He had Lance stop for a moment as he ripped Keith’s shirt open, the buttons at the sleeves coming away quickly as designed, and stuck one near his left shoulder and another on the right side of his stomach under his ribs. He ripped off the gauze on the wounds on those locations before placing the patches.

He pulled Lance aside and pressed a button on a small machine after making sure neither of them were touching Keith or the bed he was on. The patches lit up yellow and jolted Keith’s chest off the bed for a second before dropping heavily back on the surface.

The lights in the room stopped flashing and turned back to its normal white hue, illuminating Keith’s pale chest and even paler face. 

Keith let out a shuddering gasp before falling silent, eyes still closed.

The room was deadly silent for a good second and everything stood still as Lance and Coran looked at the screen to see that his pulse was back up to eighty and other vitals slowly crept back up.

“What… what just happened?” Lance croaked out, his hands still up in the air as if he was ready to start pushing down on Keith’s chest again.

“That,” Coran puffed out. “That was a severe allergic reaction.” He let out another breath and reached into the cart drawer and pulled out another syringe and attached it to the vein valve tubing before pushing the plunger down. “I just gave him a medication that will help his body from reacting again. I suspect it was the two drugs interacting finally now that the one drug that was keeping this from happening had run its course through him. We’ll have to keep him on this until we’re sure everything is out of his system.”

Lance ran a hand through Keith’s hair wearily. “We just got you back, don’t leave us again.” He murmured. 

Pausing for a moment, Coran glanced at Lance and alarmingly found him swaying as he stood at Keith’s side. He walked around the bed and pulled a chair up behind him. 

“Sit, Lance.” Coran told him as he put his hands on his shoulders and pushed down with little pressure.

Lance’s body obeyed as he tried to protest but finding that sitting down felt better than he realized. He laid both arms on the bed in front of him and rested his head on folded arms. Something nudged his shoulder and he turned his head to see Coran holding a water pouch and a protein bar.

“Eat and drink.” Coran ordered. “You humans have adrenal systems that are prone to crashing when something exciting happens and then ends. I’d rather not have you faint on me right now.” 

He nodded and opened up the bar to take a bite. He watched as Coran took care of various tasks. 

Coran took off the patches and redressed the wounds that he had ripped the gauze off of, replaced the front of Keith’s shirt, covered him back up with the blankets, and attached a third bag of liquid to the tubing snaking to his hand after injecting a syringe into the bag. He started to clean up all the trash that littered the ground around the gurney when a small groan came from the paladin laying on the bed.

Lance stood up and looked at Keith’s face. His face was scrunched up, his eyes squeezed shut as he turned his head on the pillow. 

“You’re okay, Keith. We’re here.” Lance told him softly, putting a hand to his cheek and another on his chest. “You scared us. No more doing that, okay?”

Keith’s eyes opened halfway, a glassy unfocused look coming out from them. He pushed his face into Lance’s hand, bumping the edge of the mask into his palm. A small cough fogging up the mask, his lips parted as he tried breathing deeply through the stabbing pains in his chest. 

“Keith.” Coran said calmly.

He turned his gaze upwards to see Coran standing behind Keith and blinked slowly. Moving a hand to his chest, he groaned.

“Your heart stopped, Keith. We had to bring you back and some of your ribs are going to hurt for a little bit but you’re alive we intend to keep you that way.” Coran told him.

Keith’s eyes widened slightly and his breaths quickened to the point that he was panting shallowly. The pulse vital on the screen started to climb.

“Hey, hey. Keith, it’s okay. Breathe.” Lance brought both hands up to Keith’s face and tilted it so he could only see him. “Look at me, do what I do.” He exaggerated inhaling and exhaling deeply. Keith struggled through the pain and eventually followed along with Lance’s instructions. His breathing slowed down enough that he felt drowsy and closed his eyes before giving in to the pain free darkness calling him.

Coran squeezed Lance’s arm reassuringly when he saw Keith go back to sleep after helping him calm down. Lance sat down heavily and slumped until the back of his head rested on the back of the chair.

“He’s really got to stop doing this to us.” Lance said wearily.  
____________________________________________________________________

The next few hours passed by uneventfully. Lance was dozing with his head resting on his arms on an empty part of Keith’s bed when the door slid open and Shiro walked in while leaning heavily on Allura. He was dressed in a black tank top and loose cotton pants that he usually wore to bed. Lance woke up and saw him walking in before he got up and rearranged the covers on the bed behind him so Shiro could get in without hassle. Shiro murmured gratefully to him as he pulled the blankets up over himself and turned so he laid on his side before closing his eyes, his breath deepening and evening out as he fell asleep.

“Go sleep in your bed, Lance.” Allura told him softly, putting her hands on his tensed shoulders and kneaded the muscles with her fingertips. “You’ve been here all quintaint.”

Lance shook his head as he reveled in the feeling of muscles loosening, as much as it hurt but in a good way. “Coran’s been here longer. He should go sleep before me. I’m okay.”

“Alteans do not require as much rest as humans do. I gather that he has already taken his leave from the snoring I heard from his quarters when I went to get Shiro from the pods.” Allura told him amusingly.

He let out a small laugh, resting his head back on Keith’s bed on his arms. “Then you should go get some rest. Maybe run Pidge and Hunk through some training.”

“Those two are busy with their own projects. The kitchens smell quite good from Hunk’s cooking. Shiro had some broth after he came out from the cryopod.” Allura said, continuing to massage Lance.

As if right on cue, Lance’s stomach growled so loudly that Allura could feel the rumbling all the way up through her hands. His eyes shot opened and he glanced towards her, his cheeks dusted with embarrassment. 

A moment passed when they just stared at each other, unsure of what to say next.

“When,” Allura asked slowly, “when was the last time you ate, Lance?”

“Before you and I went down to the planet to rescue Keith? I had a protein bar a little bit ago?” He answered meekly, offering up a weak smile. His left eye twitched.

“Lance!” Allura whispered loudly, not wanting to wake the two sleeping paladins. “That was over a day and a half ago! You are going to leave right now, get some food from Hunk, and you will be sleeping in your room tonight.”

“Well, it’s not exactly my fault. This mullet head keeps putting me and Coran on our toes. His heart stopped earlier today!” He said grumpily.

Allura lightly slapped him on the head, a whiff to the side near his ear. Nonetheless, Lance ducked and rubbed the area that she barely brushed. 

“Now, off to food and sleep with you. Before I ask Pidge to program one of the training dummies to chase you around the training hall thrice before you come back here.” She ordered him, putting her hands under his upper arm and helping him to stand up.

“Okay, alright. I’m going.” Lance said with a yawn as he stood up. “It’ll be nice to lay down anyway.” He took one last glance at Keith’s sleeping face before stepping away.

Before he could walk away, Allura pulled him into a hug. Lance was surprised at first from the sudden display of affection and then wrapped his arms around her to return the same amount of pressure. 

She took his seat on the chair facing Keith after she heard the door slide shut and reached for the tablet she brought with her. There, she sat in silent vigil for the two paladins. Their breathing the only sound in the room keeping her company. 

Coran came in a few vargas later, stretching his arms over his head as he walked. Allura looked up from her tablet and smiled at him as he came over between the two beds. He returned the smile and gave her a small kiss on the forehead as he often did when she was alone. She liked the gesture as it reminded her of her father doing the same thing after her mother died. He filled her in on what had happened to Keith when she had been taking care of the castle. 

“It seems like his temperature has gone up.” Coran frowned as he scanned the vital screen. “No doubt that infection has set in now that he’s safe.”

“But we rescued him. Shouldn’t that mean he gets better instead?” Allura asked, concern etched in her face.

“For some species, that would be the case but it seems now that he is out of danger and his body is no longer fighting any external threat, his immune system is now paying for being on guard for so long.” He took a small white stick with a blue tip from the nearby supply drawer and pricked the skin on an empty space of Keith’s forearm, drawing no more than a pinprick of blood. “Princess, can you get a cold washcloth and put it on his forehead? We need to try and get his temperature down before it gets out of control. I’m going to see what his blood looks like this morning.” 

She nodded and stood up. Going to the linen closet nearby, she withdrew a small washcloth and wet it in the sink. Setting it on his forehead, she smoothed back the hair that had fallen over his eyes. Allura flinched slightly when her fingertips brushed his skin slightly. It felt like she had touched a hot cup of tea but it was his skin radiating the heat instead.

Keith groaned when the cool cloth touched his skin, not quite of his own accord. He shook his head from side to side slightly as his eyelids seemed to scrunch up. Keith coughed weakly, his raw throat burning as he did so.

“Shh,” Allura shushed as she ran her fingers through his sweat laden hair. “You’re alright. You’re running a fever.”

That seemed to soothe him as his face relaxed and his mouth fell open slightly underneath the oxygen mask. Allura could see the sharp angles of some teeth and orange coloring his normally white veneer. His limbs started moving around under the blanket as he fought the blankets to get more comfortable before one arm settled on his stomach. His other arm and both legs curled up close to his body while still laying flat on his back. Keith’s face fell to the side and he rubbed his face against the pillow, the oxygen mask preventing him from completely turning his face. His breaths, as shallow as they were coming, fogged and cleared up the mask rhythmically. 

“It seems that he is fighting pneumonia.” Coran said unhappily as he came back over with a tablet in his hands. “I suspect that being kept in the cold, the muzzle in his mouth, and the dye made it the perfect storm for this happening.”

“Those monsters.” Allura said sadly under her breath, continuing to stroke his hair.

“I would normally put him on antibiotics but with what happened earlier, I’d want to make sure the drugs get out of him first. It turns out that the steroid that the test detected earlier wasn’t just any steroid for making him look presentable, but to also prevent the two drugs from killing him. An anabolic steroid, the test identified. I have him on a different one for now but it’ll be rough for him weaning off of the cocktail they had him on.” He sighed. 

“I wish…” Allura whispered. “I wish we had found him earlier. He shouldn’t have to go through all this.” A tear trailed down her cheek.

“Princess, there wasn’t anything we could have done to find him earlier. The Blades didn’t contact us early enough and we found him right in time. Any later and I don’t think he would have survived.” Coran tried to console her. She put both hands up to her mouth to muffle any sounds of sobbing. Putting her arms around her, Coran pulled her into a tight hug as she cried into his chest. They stood there as she finally let go of the internal conflict in his arms.

Once she calmed down and brought her hands up to wipe away the tears, Coran leaned her back and looked into her face. “Feel better?” He asked gently. 

She nodded as she sniffled. “We-” Allura cleared her throat. “We should focus on him now. I’ll be okay.”

He nodded and planted a kiss on her forehead before stepping away. Picking up his tablet again, he continued to read the results of the blood test and its new findings.  
“The drug that turned him into the fiery state you discovered him in does nasty things to his blood. It causes the iron ions of the blood cells to essentially enlarge and heat up so every time they injected him with it caused him immense pain and destroyed those ions once the drug was subdued by the sedative they put in him after the show was done. His blood craves it after having it injected near daily. His body is having a hard time making blood normally after this. He’ll need iron supplement infusions once he’s stronger but for now, the anemia will make things harder for him to recover from. Especially the wounds and his pneumonia.”

Allura nodded. “So his healing will have to be quite slow and methodical is what you’re saying?”

“Precisely.” 

“Is there anything else?” Allura asked in a small voice, her head spinning with the newfound information in addition to remembering what they had found the previous day.

“No, for now, he needs sleep. We’ll try and see if he can wake up tomorrow but for now, his body craves rest.” Coran checked the bags of fluid connected by tubing to Keith’s hand. 

“We will have to clean the wounds on his face. Maybe get some food into him, he looks smaller than when I left him last earlier today.” She couldn’t believe that the day had passed so quickly and they had only rescued him yesterday. 

“That would be the steroid filtering through his body and not being replenished. It will be okay, Princess.” Coran told her, finished fiddling with the fluid bags. “There is nothing to do at the moment except watch over him, replace the cloth when it gets warm, and cool him down as much as we can.”

Allura nodded and settled in for the long night watching over the red paladin and hoping fervently for him to rest as much as he can.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise he starts to get better soon. Poor guy just accrued so many things.
> 
> 7/28/2020


	5. Day 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! This chapter took me two days to get out. Enjoy!

Shiro came to consciousness slowly, the blankets laying warm over him. He let out a small but deep sigh from inside his chest and shifted on the bed, moving his heavy limbs over one another as he turned onto his side and snuggled his face into the pillow. Still letting his consciousness drift, he took in the sounds around him. A few footsteps here and there, someone shifting in a chair, steady breathing close to him, coughing once in a while, hushed talking next to him. He dozed for another few moments before his body decided it had enough sleep and its urges needed to be taken care of. Shiro closed his eyes tightly one last time before taking in a very deep breath and woke up. The light in the room was still dim, the only source coming from the far end where he could see Coran working on something in the small laboratory. Allura was sitting on the edge of Keith’s bed, putting something on his forehead.

He threw the blanket back from his shoulders and rubbed his eyes with his one hand as he yawned before sitting up. Groaning, he swung his legs over the edge before standing and taking stock of his newly repaired lower leg as he stood and tested his footing.

“Good morning, Shiro.” Allura greeted. 

“Morning, A-a-allura.” Shiro yawned. He grinned sheepishly. “Sorry, just waking up still.”

“It’s alright. I hope you slept well. The cryopod worked hard yesterday.” She came over to stand in front of him. 

He nodded. “Well enough. How’s Keith doing?” He walked the two feet distance towards Keith. Shiro frowned when he saw the mask on his face. “I thought he couldn’t stand having the mask on him?”

Allura sighed and started to explain the new updates to him. As she went on, Shiro’s face grew more concerned. He held Keith’s hand in his own and squeezed lightly, wishing him to wake up.

“You should go freshen up, Shiro. I’ll be here when you get back. We’ll need your help to change his dressings and if he’s up to it, perhaps bathing him. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind having his hair washed.” She told him. “Hunk has some breakfast ready as well.”

“Thanks, let me know if he wakes up?” Shiro asked, stretching his one arm above his head and letting out a relieved sigh when his shoulder bones cracked.

She nodded. Shiro took one last look at Keith and left the infirmary, rubbing his face as he walked towards his room. He showered, brushed his teeth, combed his hair, and dressed in his casual clothes almost automatically while his mind kept wandering towards Keith. Walking towards the kitchen, his stomach made its needs known. Shiro hadn’t eaten in awhile. He entered to see no one in there but he supposed it was too early for anyone else to be awake with him being the earliest riser out of any of them. Making himself a bowl of oatmeal and pouring himself a mug of coffee tea with a purple apple on the side, he sat down and turned on the tablet he brought from his room. His inbox was full of new messages and well wishes from Hunk, Pidge, and Lance, updates on the castle defense systems from Allura, and engineering reports from Coran. He frowned, feeling like something was missing. Scrolling down, he found the missing link. Shiro missed the messages from Keith messaging him and always complaining about something or someone, as long as he’d be gone for. It still felt surreal that he was back in the castle albeit much worse for wear.

He ate his bowl as he read and replied to messages as necessary. He made a mental note to stop by Pidge’s lab to pick up the arm before heading back to help take care of Keith. Finishing up, he set his dirty dishes in the dishwasher neatly and walked out, almost bumping into a sleepy Hunk still dressed in his pajamas and slippers. It felt good to walk without pain, Shiro felt grateful for each step as he made his way towards the green paladin’s lab. He rolled his eyes when the door opened to the mechanical chaos on the tables against the wall. The arm Pidge mentioned was directly resting on the table nearest to the computer. Shiro unhooked the cables connecting it to the computer and inserted the base of the prosthetic onto his bicep, giving a momentary wince as the nerves connected with the hardware and wiggled the fingers. It wasn’t the same as the Galran arm he had grown used to but it would do for now. Pidge made sure it was at the very least functional and waterproof. He could see another arm sitting propped up by stand on another table and curiously inspected, not knowing what any of the parts did. 

Shiro made his way back towards the infirmary but not without a slight detour. He stopped in front of Keith’s room. As the door slid open, the lights were off and it was as the same as Keith had left it when he went to join the Blades. Shiro thought it might comfort him if he had something familiar that he could touch and ground himself when he woke up. Looking towards the bed, he smiled. There was the ember colored soft and fluffy fabricated pillow that he had bought for Keith when they were on a planet for diplomatic meetings. The surface reminded Shiro of the faux fur pillows he had as a child on Earth. He thought fondly of the time they went to the market and Keith couldn’t stop running his hands over the minky surface of the pillow so Shiro bought the pillow and three others of the same material so Keith could sleep with them when he wanted. Shiro couldn’t forget how much joy it brought Keith, the smile as big as the first time they raced in the desert. 

Gathering the pillows in his arms, he exited the room and made his way back to the infirmary. Shiro entered quietly, he put the pillows on the newly made bed that he had occupied previously and was now waiting for the next occupant. He pulled out a chair and sat down next to Keith’s head. The red paladin was resting one side, curled up with his knees crunched up near his stomach, his arms folded up with his wrists crossed in front of his chest, and his head bowed down as if to protect his bandaged neck.

Shiro bent down on the chair to the gurney’s level, leaning on his knees, and laid a hand softly in one of Keith’s. He gently rubbed his fingers with his thumb as he took in how small he looked. The bags under Keith’s eyes had turned a deeper purple and seemed to have grown larger. Bruises on his face and exposed skin had turned a sickly blue and purple, cuts and scrapes were red and inflamed, his skin was hot to the touch with fever. His face was flushed red while the skin that was unblemished by abrasions were patches of red as well. 

Keith coughed while he slept, the mask fogging up before clearing with his labored breathing. Shiro could almost hear the congestion in his chest rattling about with each breath. He stood up without breaking his contact with his hand and tucked the blanket around Keith’s back and shoulders more securely. Sitting back down, he put his head on his prosthetic arm that he rested on the bed rail that had been pulled up and waited for Keith to wake.

Allura had come back in and saw Shiro right in front of Keith. She made eye contact with him and he nodded to her which she took as an affirmative that he would be sitting with him. Allura turned around and left, leaving the infirmary silent except for the sounds of Keith’s breathing. Shiro turned his attention back to Keith, content to wait there until he woke up. He kept his mind busy by connecting with Black and checking in on her. Feeling her presence in his mind, he relaxed enough to close his eyes for a few minutes. Shiro started humming softly under his breath, a song he had grown fond of as a child when his parents took him to a musical during a school break.

The fingers in his hands started twitching and Shiro’s eyes shot open. Keith’s breathing sped up, whimpering filled the small space between the two of them.

“Shh, you’re alright, Keith.” Shiro said in hushed tones. “You’re safe. I promise. It’s me. I’m right here with you.”

Keith’s breaths soon turned into small cries, tears gathering under his closed eyelids. He curled up into a tighter ball. He could feel ghostly fingers running over his back and shoulder in the throes of a nightmare.

“It’s okay, Keith. I’m here, you can wake up. Nothing is going to hurt you.” Shiro reassured the sleeping paladin. He set a hand on his head and applied gentle pressure to his scalp. “Wake up. You’re with us.”

Keith came to slowly, his eyes opening and looked up at Shiro after a few seconds. His hand weakly closed around Shiro’s, needing something to hold onto. Straightening his back, he groaned as his shoulder shifted.

“Want to wake up now?” Shiro asked kindly.

Keith nodded and winced as he moved his head up away from where his chin was touching his collarbone. “Shir- Shiro?” He whispered hoarsely under the mask. Keith tried to say another word but broke out into a coughing fit. Shiro helped him sit up as the coughs racked his body, letting him lean forward onto his arm as the other one patted him on the back. He kept coughing over Shiro’s arm, his throat burning from the exertion as he gasped between coughs as if he couldn’t get enough air. His lungs finally gave him a break and he brought his arms to wrap around his ribs. Keith let his head fall onto Shiro’s upper arm and tried to push the mask off by turning his face against his shoulder.

“You want me to take this off?” Shiro asked as he held Keith against him.

Keith nodded. “Please… off.” He managed to croak out as he panted. Feeling a hand reach around his face, he waited until he felt the soft pressure lift from his face.

Shiro threw the mask onto the table that had been rolled over the lower half of Keith’s bed and then raised the head of the bed until Keith could sit up while leaning back. He gently laid him back against the bed before withdrawing his arm around Keith’s back. Keith let out a few coughs, still holding his ribs, before leaning his head back against the bed and blinking slowly.

“Laying on your back will help with the coughing and your ribs.” Shiro told him as he carded his prosthetic hand through his hair. “Can you un-pretzel your legs?” 

Keith slowly looked down and realized his legs had twisted and folded up against his stomach before nodding. He unwound them one at a time and tried to straighten his knees. Shooting pains caused him to groan in pain, the muscles refusing to lengthen after being forcibly bent for so long. As he continued, tears rolled down and his breathing sped up causing the pain in his ribs to flare up again. A thin sheen of sweat glistened on his forehead and chest.

“It’s okay, Keith. You don’t have to lay them down all the way out if it hurts.” He helped him lay back and catch his breath, letting his knees stay bent. Shiro walked over to the linen closet and pulled out a few pillows. Taking them in one arm, he lifted Keith’s legs one at a time and set the pillows under his knees to support his legs and to take the pressure off his feet. “Better?” 

Keith let out a sigh as he nodded. “Thank you, Shiro.” He murmured. 

“How are you feeling? It sounds like you had a tough night.” Shiro asked, sitting on the edge of the bed. 

“Like utter crap.” Keith replied. “Ribs hurt, breathing hurts, skin hurts.”

“Everything hurts?” Shiro gave a lopsided empathetic smile. “Let me see if Coran left any of those green pills around.” 

Keith nodded and watched as Shiro looked on the table and then in a nearby cabinet, soon pulling out a clear bottle with the aforementioned pills and a water pouch. His lungs felt heavy as he coughed and clutched his throat, the motion feeling like razor blades slicing up his already raw airway. He groaned as Shiro shook out two translucent green capsules into his hand and gave him the water pouch with the straw stuck in. As he slurped down the water, Shiro set a hand on his forehead and read the vitals on the screen. 

“You’re still feverish. The pneumonia isn’t going down without a fight.” Shiro told him.

Keith listened quietly as he talked, his hands starting to tremble. The water helped quench the fire in his stomach although it seemed to him like the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees and he started to shiver. He tried to sit up to pull the blankets that had pooled at the foot of the bed towards him only to trigger another coughing fit but this time, he felt something viscous come up his throat. He abruptly closed his mouth but the coughing demanded to be expressed so Keith leaned forward and coughed into his hands that were in his lap. Something sticky and thick landed in his hand from his mouth and a trail of spit dangled from his dried blood caked lips.

Shiro winced and grabbed a small basin and put it under his hand before getting a few paper towels. Keith continued coughing into the basin, more yellow mucus and red streaked mucus coming out from him. His coughing went from short and fast to longer and wetter sounding. Once he thought the fit was done, Keith dizzily leaned back and accepted the paper towels from Shiro to wipe his hands and mouth, as much as the motion bringing his arms up hurt. Shiro went to bring a trash bin closer to the edge of the bed so he could dispose of it.

When he got back to his side, Keith had turned his head away from him, his eyes closed and breathing through his mouth with labored breaths. Shiro silently picked up the paper towels and pulled the blankets up to his stomach, under where his arms wrapped themselves again around his ribs. 

A sniffling sound filled the air. 

Shiro looked and saw Keith clenching his teeth, trying not to make a sound as tears rolled down his cheeks. “It was just a little mucus, it’s okay.” He said softly.

“Sor- sorry.” Keith stuttered. 

“Nothing to be sorry for, not like I’m going to melt if I touch it.” Shiro sat down and placed a comforting hand on Keith’s covered knee.

“N-no. Not that…” Keith paused to cough. “Sorry I’m such a screw up.” He whispered. 

“You’re no-“ Shiro started to say.

“No!” Keith barked. “If I had-hadn’t messed up the recon mission the Blades sent me on, you wouldn’t have had to come rescue me… if I didn’t leave you guys, none of this would have happened…” His nose started to fill up with snot and it was getting harder to breathe again. “May-maybe you shoul-should have left me dere, dere to die and maybe no one would hav’ gott’n hurt.” He garbled out, his nose running. “I des’rved to be dere. All I do is be a burd’n to you, Al’lura, Lanc’. I’m a fail’re” His whole body trembled with the force of his sorrow.

He cried, the pain in his ribs felt like knives slicing him up from the inside but the pain of everything crashing in his head hurt more. Shiro watched silently as his friend writhed and rocked on the bed while he wailed. Getting on the bed, he leaned Keith forward and enveloped him in a tight hug while being mindful of his ribs and the wounds on his back. He let Keith cry into his shoulder, feeling how heavy the sobs were coming out of him along with more statements of inadequacy he tried to get out.

The two of them sat there until Keith’s sobs subsided into small coughs and then into small sniffles before quieting down. Shiro ran his hand up and down Keith’s back soothingly, his fingers feeling the bumps on his spine through the shirt. Eventually, Keith put his arms around Shiro’s back, returning the hug.

“You’re not any of those things, Keith.” Shiro said softly. “We would do anything for you. All of us. We’re Voltron. Without one, there is none. Any of us would fight to the death for you or anyone else on the team. You did when you rescued me from the Garrison after I got away from the Galra. I know you would do that for me again without asking. I would do the same for you, Keith. We all love you and care for you.”

Keith nodded against his shoulder, the words not sinking in quite yet. He started coughing again, letting himself lean against Shiro. He let go of him and leaned back onto the infirmary bed. Shiro handed him a few tissues he pulled out of the box on the table. Keith tried to lift his hands up to his face but his arms wouldn’t let him without immense pain shooting up to his shoulders. He let his hands fall uselessly to his lap.

Shiro took a tissue and held it up, a questioning expression crossing his face. Keith hesitated, before nodding miserably. Shiro gently held the tissue up to Keith’s nose and pressed down on one nostril before instructing him to blow. He paused to let him cough before switching the other side and wiping his nose clean for him.

“Sor-sorry.” Keith whispered, his eyes downcast. “I can’t even wipe my own nose right now.”

“It’s okay, you need to let us help you. You went through a lot and at least it’s not Lance here right now. He wouldn’t let you live this down until you chase him around with your bayard in that paladin maze.” Shiro told him, a mischievous smile on his face.

Keith laughed wetly before coughing again. He breathed through his mouth as Shiro held his hand in both of his. They sat in silence before Shiro shifted his legs from where he sat on the side of the bed. 

“Do you want to talk about it more?” Shiro asked quietly, not wanting to push too hard too fast. 

Keith shook his head, the headache coming back with a vengeance. 

“How about we get you cleaned up? You’ve more than deserved it.” Shiro said with a light squeeze to his hand. 

“Clean?” Keith whispered, as if he couldn’t believe it.

“Clean. Do you want a bath? I don’t know if your feet can handle being stood on right now.” Shiro told him apologetically, thinking back to the lashes they discovered on the bottom of Keith’s feet and how painful it would be to bear full weight on them on a wet and slippery surface.

Keith nodded, the heaviness in his chest lifting slightly at the aspect of feeling water around him for the first time in… forever. Certainly the first time after joining the Blades.

“Is it okay if Allura helps get you clean? That way we can make sure you don’t accidentally drown.” Shiro asked. Keith nodded again, leaning his head back on the pillow. Shiro grabbed his table from where he left and typed out a message to Allura while Keith dozed off. It was a short time later when Allura showed up with a small bundle of black clothing in one hand. Some whispering later, Shiro left to quickly visit the bathroom in the corner of the infirmary to change into the swim suit that Allura retrieved from his room for him. Coran came in briefly to disconnect the tubing from Keith’s hand, closing off the bags so they wouldn’t leak and taping the vein valve to his hand to keep it out of the way.

Allura busied herself by gathering some supplies such as another set of clean infirmary clothes for Keith, a few washcloths, and a few towels. She also grabbed another warm blanket and added it to the pile.

“Let’s get you washed up. I’m going to wrap you in the blanket and lift you. Is that okay, Keith?” Shiro asked as he held a blanket in his hand. 

Keith opened his eyes to see Shiro bare chested and in black swim trunks before he nodded, still sleepy. Together, they got him bundled up and with one arm under the bend of his knees and another supporting his back, Shiro easily lifted him. The blanket was soft and warm on skin and Keith leaned into Shiro’s shoulder as they walked and let the rocking of motion of him walking lull him back into a small doze. The mere touch of his arms soothing him, making him feel warm and safe.

Allura and Shiro talked quietly as they walked. Lance had come out of his room and met them in the hallway, piling a few small bottles onto Allura to her dismay and left to get food.

Sooner than he realized, Keith heard Shiro asking him to wake up. He cracked open heavy eyelids to see that they were in Allura’s bedroom, a sight he hadn’t seen since he had gotten captured. He tilted his head up to look at Shiro with a confused face. “Why… why are we here?” 

“I thought bathing here might be more comfortable than the small tub in the infirmary. It has much more space and the temperature can be adjusted better.” Allura told him after she set the supplies down by the in ground bathtub. She set up the bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and the washcloths at the edge for easy access.

Keith looked owlishly around the room. He had forgotten how big her quarters were. The view outside of the ceiling to floor windows showed pin pricks of distant stars in an inky blackness. A faint amber light illuminated one window from the star of the galaxy they were in. He stared outside, reorienting himself with the vastness of space and how much he missed seeing this.

Shiro set him down on the bed and slowly unwrapped him from the blanket. “Do you think we can get your clothes off before we go in the tub? Water’s warmed up for you.” He asked.

Keith turned his attention back to Shiro before quickly shaking his head. “Please, no. I don’t… don’t make me…” His breathing started to speed up and his eyes went blank.

He was suddenly transported back to the first time he woke up in the storeroom, barren of clothing and his belongings. Hands reached for him and he instinctively curled up, trying to shield himself from the long fingers ripping what little he had on him off. A hand patted him on the cheek and he brought his arms up to protect his face, shoulders painfully protesting the movement. Another hand shook him on the shoulder. 

“Please…” He pleaded weakly, his eyes squeezed shut. Sobs wracked his body. Everything suddenly felt raw and out in the open. The only thing he could do was curl up tighter and hoped it would end quickly. Voices were talking but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. “No…” Keith moaned out before coughing.

Allura and Shiro looked at each other helplessly while Keith writhed on the bed. The only thing they could do was to wait until Keith’s mind snapped out of the flashback. It was a few minutes listening to him cry and cough until he quieted down and slowly opened his eyes.

“It’s me, Keith. Shiro. Allura’s right here. You’re safe. You’re here in the castle with us. No one is going to hurt you.” Shiro said soothingly, rest a hand on his arm. 

Keith turned his head and looked at Shiro, a fearful look on his face still. Shiro gave him a sad smile. 

“Shir- Shiro?” He said, dazed. 

“Yeah, I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.” He told him reassuringly. “Think we can get you in the water now? We can leave your clothes on.”

Nodding, Keith turned his head to cough before groaning. He laid there as Shiro helped him to sit up and then lifted him in his arms. 

Cradling him to his chest, Shiro walked into the tub where Allura waited. She was wearing a pale pink one piece swimming suit. 

Keith felt the water touch his skin through the infirmary clothes and gasped at the warm liquid. It felt so good on his skin. Shiro held him there in his arms for a bit, letting him get used to the warmth of the water. Keith reached a hand out and let the water run through his fingers, moving his limbs underwater. He tried to straighten out his knees while his muscles were warmed by the water and to his delight, his joints cooperated and soon he was laying almost flat on his back if not supported by Shiro’s arm. The water came up to his neck and Keith let himself be submerged until the water was framing his face and soaked his scalp.

Allura squirted some shampoo into her hand and motioned for Shiro to prop Keith’s head out of the water. He waded over to sit down on the steps and pulled him into his lap before putting his forearm under his neck to let Allura wash Keith’s hair. Keith closed his eyes, feeling her fingers massage his scalp. Holding a hand to his forehead, Shiro kept the water from running into his eyes when Allura washed out the shampoo. The process repeated with the conditioner, Keith even cracked a small smile. His chest felt lighter and ribs didn’t hurt as much while he laid in Shiro’s lap in the water.

“Your hair got so long. It might be time for a trim, don’t you think?” Allura asked, using a small bowl to rinse out the conditioner.

“Would be nice.” Keith drawled out. 

Shiro asked her for a washcloth now that Keith’s hair was clean from the dirt and grime. She dunked it in the water, the dirty shampoo sunk to the bottom of the tub where it was filtered out and left only clean water surrounding them. Shiro said a word of thanks when he was handed the wrung out cloth. 

“Can I clean your face, Keith? You have a lot of dried blood on there that can’t feel too great right now.” Shiro inquired, not wanting to break his relaxed state.

Keith opened his eyes and nodded. “Just… just be gentle, please.” He murmured.

The cloth soon turned from a clean white to being stained with dried dye and rust colored blood, having been rehydrated and leaking color. Keith flinched a few times as Shiro ran the cloth over the cuts on the corners of his mouth, the wide horizontal gashes from his cheekbones to his jaw leading up to his ears, and the vertical line starting at the upper lip and up his nose to his hairline. 

Allura handed him a new cloth that she had dabbled with some soap that Coran had used to clean out the wounds when Keith first came to the infirmary.

“This might sting a little. We need to put it on so these don’t get infected, okay?” Shiro told him softly.

Keith eyed the cloth with some trepidation before taking a deep breath and nodding his consent. 

Stinging was an understatement. Keith gritted his teeth and flinched with every pass of the cloth. His ears rang with Shiro apologizing every time Keith moved his face away from the cloth. 

“We’re done. You did so well. You did good, Keith.” Shiro soothed, bringing a hand around to cup his cheek and rub circles into his temple. 

Keith sucked a breath through his teeth and looked up at Shiro’s face. He nodded again before coughing, feeling some of the congestion moving around, and leaned the side of his face into Shiro’s chest. 

Allura used her fingertips to rub some cream on the newly cleaned gashes. It didn’t hurt nearly as much as using the soap and cooled his skin some. 

“Can we take your shirt off?” Allura asked. “Just your shirt right now. You can stay in Shiro’s arms, I’ll wash your chest and back, okay?” 

Keith nodded, his face turning redder after coughing.

Shiro helped slip the wet shirt over his head, guiding his bent arms through the wide sleeves and protecting the fabric from touching his face. He walked further into the tub until his chest all the way up to his chin was submerged in the water. Allura had turned on the jets so water was moving in small streams around them. Together, she and Shiro removed the gauze and tape from Keith’s chest, throwing them out on the edge of the pool to dispose of later. Keith didn’t mind this nearly as much, the water helping to dissolve the adhesive easier than if they tried to take it off normally. Allura ducked under the water and peeled away the tape from under his back, coming up for air a few times with a handful of wet gauze. 

Shiro took a washcloth and gently scrubbed away at Keith’s chest and shoulders, seeing the water around them turn a pale shade of brown before sinking to the bottom. He was careful around the bruising and prod marks, the latter of which were red and inflamed and had swelled into small bumps, Keith flinched whenever he touched one inadvertently. Allura dived under the water again to scrub at Keith’s back, coming up with a slightly blood stained wash cloth.

“Keith?” Shiro said gently. “We’re going to wash your legs and your area down there.”

He sucked in a deep breath and subconsciously closed his legs under the water nervously.

“Do you want me or Allura to help you down there?” He asked, his thumb still on his temple.

“Can- can you do it?” Keith looked over to Allura “No of- offense, Allura.” He stuttered.

Allura gave him a small smile. “None taken.” She stood up in the tub and stretched her arms out so Shiro could transfer Keith from his arms to hers.

“I’m going to take off your pants now, okay?” Shiro narrated as he moved down towards his legs. He hooked his fingers in the waistband of the infirmary pants and moved it slowly off of his hips, past his butt, and down his legs. He looked up often at Keith to make sure he was okay. Keith was taking deep breaths while Allura rubbed up and down his shoulder reassuringly while holding him tight to her chest. 

Shiro threw the wet pants over the edge of the tub and grabbed another clean washcloth and poured some soap on the surface before turning back. He waited until Keith finished coughing before touching his ankle, avoiding the band of scabs that wrapped around, so as not to spook him into accidentally kicking. He tenderly ran the washcloth around his foot, being careful of the still open cuts on the bottom of his feet and washed away the blood and pus that had been produced. He winced in sympathy as the long slices were traced up his shins to his knees. 

Keith reflexively kicked out a few times when the soap stung or Shiro pressed down on his muscles a little too much. He whimpered and buried his face in his chest in pain and embarrassment as Shiro moved up to his thighs. Shiro made quick work of Keith’s thighs, groin, and butt.

“We’re done. Good job, Keith.” Allura praised him when he looked up. He allowed himself to be pulled back into Shiro’s arms.

“Let’s get you out and dried off. You look like you need some sleep.” Shiro said with a smile.

Shiro carried him as he walked up the steps, Allura having already gotten out and was laying towels on the bed. He was laid down and the two of them took more towels and wiped down the water beading on his skin. Shiro helped him pull the pants over his hips and Keith breathed a sigh of relief when the fabric covered his legs. Allura helped him sit up as Shiro applied cream to the wounds on his back and taped gauze before letting him lay back down and doing the same to the front of his chest. Shiro then moved down to his legs, sliding the fabric up one at a time. He spread a generous amount on the bottom of his feet. 

“Let’s get a shirt on you and then off to bed.” Shiro said, capping the tube and setting it aside.

“Leave it off, ple- please?” Keith mumbled. He moved the back of his shoulders against the soft towel. 

“Okay.” Shiro nodded. He wrapped him up in a towel and left him to lay on the bed for a moment as he and Allura dried themselves off. 

Keith sleepily gazed out the windows. He was trying to etch the view in his mind before going back to the infirmary with no windows and small enclosed spaces. The stars blinked in and out of brightness as he tried to remember constellations that his head seemingly had forgotten.

“Ready to go?” Shiro asked, coming up to the bed, a towel hanging around his neck. 

“Wai- wait.” Keith cleared his throat. “Just want to see the stars again.”

Allura caught the look in his eyes as he stared out the windows. “They never let you outside when you weren’t… being shown, did they?” She prodded gently.

He shook his head, still looking outside. Keith coughed before speaking. “I was never awake when they moved us from place to place. Always drugged me. Always making me asleep, awake, weak…” He trailed off. 

“So you never knew where you were.” Shiro offered up. 

Keith shook his head again. “Was always in a cage. No water, no food. Just… drugs.” He held up his forearms where the skin was riddled with needle marks. His thoughts turned dark as he saw the cage in his head, the manacles on his wrists.

A hand ran through his hair and that shook him out of thought, he jerked and whipped his head up to see Shiro looking at him before inhaling a quick breath and coughing when his lungs protested the sudden intake of air. He felt mucus fill his mouth and quickly closed it before his coughing ended. A basin appeared under his chin and he sat and spat out the glob before continuing to cough. Someone’s hand was patting his back.

The coughing stopped and he groaned, the pain in his chest back. His body started trembling, it felt like ants were scurrying under his skin. A low growl filled the air. It wasn’t until a few moments later that Keith realized it was his stomach that made the sound. 

“You’re okay. You’re safe.” Shiro told him. He internally vowed to keep saying it until Keith believed it for himself. He never wanted him to suffer through the flashbacks alone like he did the first few months Shiro arrived back on Earth before being subsequently flung through space again with the team. “Should we get you back so you can rest?” 

Keith nodded sadly, looking out the wide windows again before he subjected himself to being moved back to the infirmary.

“Wait.” 

Shiro and Keith looked at Allura. She smiled at Keith. “Why don’t you stay here? Clearly, you like looking out and a change of scenery is good for anyone.”

“Can- can I?” Keith asked in a hopeful voice.

“Where would you stay? He’d be sleeping in your bed.” Shiro said.

“I’ll stay in one of the guest suites for now. It has near the same features of this room just minus the in ground bathtub that Keith seems to enjoy. I can use the shower.” She shrugged.

“Thank you, Allura.” Keith whispered. He relaxed back into the bed and pulled the blanket tighter around his trembling body. 

Allura and Shiro started to gather everything they used to clean Keith as he laid on the bed and dozed off. A little while later, the door opened and he heard Coran and Keith’s voices. He opened his eyes to see Coran over him with a pole that hung three bags with tubing. Automatically, he moved his left hand out of the blanket for Coran to hook him back up to the nutrient solution, fluids, and medication to keep the two drugs from interacting again. Keith sighed as he felt the cool liquid flowing into him and sweeping relief through his body. Shiro hefted a small monitor onto Allura’s nightstand and it flickered to life, displaying his vitals.

“Hey, can you wake up for just a little bit? I’ll let you go back to sleep soon.” Shiro murmured softly.

Keith took a deep breath through his nose before opening his eyes and nodding. He saw Shiro had redressed in his usual clothes.

“I brought you something earlier but we got busy. Remember these?” Shiro held up an ember colored pillow for him to see.

Keith’s eyes widened. He reached a hand out to touch and was rewarded with how soft he remembered the texture. “Where…?”

“I stopped by your room. I thought you would want to get comfy since you came back to us.” Shiro said and gave him the pillow.

He hugged the pillow to his bare chest and Keith bowed his head to bury his face in the softness. Tears sprang to his eyes, the softness soothing and comforting his skin.

Shiro brought the other two over and helped Keith arrange them. One went behind his back and the other under his head as he lay on his side still hugging the one Shiro first gave him. 

Keith let out a high pitched keen, he hadn’t felt this warm, this comforted, this… safe in so long. 

“Hey, Hunk gave this to me for you, Keith.” Lance said, a small lidded bowl and a spoon in his hands. “He made it just for you.” He handed it over to Shiro.

Lifting the lid, the scent of herbs filled the air, steam wafting up from the bowl revealed it was yellow broth reminiscent of chicken broth. 

“Oh man, that smells awesome. I bet it tastes awesome, too.” Shiro said, dipping the spoon in and stirring to cool it down. “Want to eat, Keith?”

Keith nodded. Lance helped him to sit up, groaning as the wounds on his abdomen pulled. Shiro held the bowl and handed him the spoon.

Keith tried to hold the spoon like how he normally did but his fingers couldn’t seem to hold the weight without slipping out. He tried gripping it in his palm and lifted up a spoonful before bringing it to his mouth, most of it spilled out before it even left the lip of the bowl. He managed to get a small taste of it, though. Warmth and flavor heated up his mouth and he ran his tongue against the back of his teeth, flinching when his tongue ran over the chipped edges by accident. Shiro helped him with the next few mouthfuls by holding his hand steady as he moved the spoon to his mouth, ensuring he ate it instead of wearing it. Keith couldn’t get enough of the taste, it was too good with the flavors and richness dancing on his tongue and felt good going down his throat.

“Fir- first thing I’ve eat- eaten in so long.” He told them between spoonfuls.

Lance grinned. “We’ll just have to get more into you. Hunk is going to be making pots of this when he hears that you like it.”

Keith put down the spoon in the bowl and didn’t pick it back up, his hand going to his mouth and a pinched look came over him. The color draining from his face as his stomach gave a lurch.

“Uh oh.” Shiro’s face blanched. “Bin!” 

Lance scrambled and he was handed a bin from Allura that he got under Keith’s chin in time before he regurgitated over the pillow in his lap. Allura came over and held his long damp hair back from his face as he continued to vomit and cough up the broth and mucus.

“Can you give him something to help, Coran?” Shiro asked the orange haired Altean after he set the bowl down and pulled a few tissues from the box.

“His body is still weak from the drugs and trying to flush it out. I’ve already given him something to prevent the reaction between the fire drugs and the sedatives they gave him. Anymore, and his system could get much worse. We need to wait now, and make sure he stays hydrated.” Coran said urgently.

“But the pain pills-“ Shiro started.

“Get flushed through much quicker his blood quicker than anti-nausea.” Coran said firmly. “I want to give him something as much as you do but not if it endangers him more.”

He and Shiro looked on as Keith painfully coughed in the basin, mucus tinged with his saliva and streaks of blood coming out. 

A few minutes later and he slumped back against Allura’s arm supporting his back. He panted for air as Shiro used a few tissues to clean his mouth and wincing when the tissue rubbed the corners of his mouth where the muzzle bit into the skin.

“Here you go, lad. Drink slowly. It’ll be okay.” Coran guided the straw of a water pouch in between Keith’s lips.

Keith took a sip, holding it in his mouth before swallowing. His stomach seemed to accept the water without issue so he continued to drink slowly as instructed until the pouch was empty and released the straw from his lips. 

“I think the broth was too much for you. It seems pretty rich, even for me.” Shiro said after he took a mouthful from the bowl. 

Keith whined, not liking the sound but his throat hurt too much to talk. 

“I know, but you can have again later after you rest.” Shiro told him, running a hand over the side of his face.

“Let’s stay on water for a bit until your stomach feels better, hm?” Coran said gently. “You’ve been starved, Keith. Your body needs to work up to having something in it again.”

Keith nodded tearfully, leaning into Shiro’s touch. 

“Lad, can you straighten your legs? We should cover these cuts so they heal properly.” Coran asked him as he moved down the bed. 

He tried his best to lay his legs down on the bed but the best he could was to rest his heels on the bed before his muscles protested going any further. 

“I’m going to try and bring it down a little more, okay? Tell me if it hurts.” Coran told him. He placed one hand below his knee and the other under his calf and tried to ease his leg down further.

Keith cried out in pain, burning searing pain from both muscle and skin. “N-no, no more! Please!” He pleaded.

Coran stopped immediately and moved his knee back up until his heel touched the bed again. “We’ll try again later, after you’ve rested.” He continued to dress and bandage Keith’s feet and legs. Shiro helped by placing pillows under his knees so his legs were propped up and pressure taken off his feet.

“It looks like since you were kept crouching in that horrendous cage for so long, your muscles atrophied. That’s why it hurts so much. We can massage your legs, and arms for that matter, when you’re better and get you moving again.” Coran told him gently. 

Keith nodded through his tears. He huffed and then started to cough again, harder this time having to work through a stuffy nose and congestion in his chest. His throat started to clog with mucus coming up and the need to breathe.

Shiro immediately hauled him up to a sitting position and thumped him firmly on the back to help him clear up his lungs. Mucus came out in globs into the basin Lance held under his mouth.

Feeling like he was done, Keith weakly pushed the basin away from his face. His head fell back against Shiro, feeling lightheaded and panted shallowly. Coran took a look at the screen with his vitals and saw his oxygenation was rather low. 

“Uh, is it me or does his nails seem blue to me?” Lance pointed at Keith’s hand. His hand rested on his stomach, the nails long enough to just barely touch his skin. The nail beds of his fingers did indeed have a bluish tinge. 

“His lips are pale, too.” Allura said. “I wouldn’t call them blue but…”

Shiro felt how hard Keith was fighting for air, nearly hyperventilating as he lay exhausted against him from the coughing and vomiting. “Keith,” he nudged him with a small shrug of his shoulder, “I know you hate the mask, but you need it.”

Keith immediately shook his head, tears rolling down his cheeks again. “No- no… mask…” He said between breaths. 

“How about you wear just when you go to sleep and I’ll take it off when you wake up? Your body is fighting for air right now and it’s not getting enough.” Shiro reasoned with him. “I know, it’s hard but you’re doing so well. I know the mask reminds you of the muzzle but I promise it’s to help you. I promise you’re safe with it on.”

After listening to Shiro’s words, Keith dropped his head and nodded his head in defeat. He felt the mask cover his nose and mouth and the cool air of air rushed into his mouth.

“Thank you, Keith.” Shiro said. “Rest now. I’ll be here when you wake.” He ran a hand through the damp and cleaned strands of his hair. Shiro guided his hands to the pillow for him to hug. Keith could have cried when his skin touched the pillow, it sounded like he was laying on clouds. He felt the blankets on Allura’s bed being pulled up over him.

“Prom’is?” Keith slurred out as his eyelids fluttered shut. 

“I promise. Rest.” Shiro soothed.

Keith listened and within seconds, he was asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Could I have broken this into two chapters? Probably. Did I want to? Nope!
> 
> This chapter was a beast. I had so many ideas but I could just not get them out right.
> 
> I also apologize if some words seem repetitive. I haven’t written in many years so I’m now working on expanding my vocabulary to be more descriptive for you all.
> 
> I’m going to take a few days off but I will return with a chapter on Sunday/Monday. 
> 
> From here, I need a little feedback. I can either keep going day by day with Keith’s recovery or, if it seems to be dragging for some of you, I can skip a few days and speed it up. 
> 
> Please let me know in the comments if you day by day or speed it up.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed it enough to leave a comment!
> 
> 7/30/2020


	6. Day 3.5

After a few hours, Keith was wrapped up in two blankets after putting a shirt on his shivering body while he was blissfully unconscious. His face slack with sleep while his breath rattled in his chest with congestion. They had managed to get him to sleep on his back but leaning on one side so he could slightly curl up with the pillow he was hugging in his arms. His oxygenation improved with the mask but they decided to leave it on so he could get all the help his lungs could get. Coran and Shiro cleaned and redressed the mancle wounds on his wrists and ankles, wincing empathetically at the rawness where he had tried to rub his way out of them. His neck sported the same scrapes and they were more gentle there because of the thin skin. Shiro could almost see the veins and arteries pulsing through the paling skin. Coran smeared cream on what looked like burns on all five sites the manacles and collar had been on after hearing from Allura that they had shocked him when she saw him for the first time.

Keith had woken up briefly and tried to get up on his own. Mumbling, Shiro could make out that he needed to go to the bathroom. Thankfully, Coran had brought down supplies to Allura’s room with one of them being tall opaque jugs with a lid and a handle. Shiro helped Keith relieve himself before being bundled up in the blankets again, too out of it to realize what was happening. The jugs were full almost every time even though he wasn’t drinking much water by mouth. Since they had rescued him the first day, his body had been rapidly thinning down, the steroid making him presentable passing through his blood and draining the excess retained water. His arms were much skinnier, the ribs that had been broken when Lance performed CPR stuck through his chest in uneven bumps before Coran wrapped them, his legs losing tone and his knees were bony pressure points under the blankets where they were propped up on pillows. 

Coran had been diligent in changing out the nutrient bags, the fluid bags, and the medication bags precisely when they emptied into Keith. He was worried at the rate that Keith’s muscles deteriorated that he might have to hang a second nutrient bag. Holding off on the idea for now, Coran hoped that Keith could wake up once in a while to take some broth and water.

Shiro stayed in the bedroom with Keith the entire time, either sitting on the side of the bed and running his hand through Keith’s hair when he seemed agitated as he slept or on the chair in front of Allura’s vanity mirror and table, which was now littered with supplies, reading reports on his tablet keeping himself occupied. Hunk had brought him lunch while he sat vigil and later on, a small pot of broth with a contraption Pidge had rigged to keep it warm. When Shiro lifted the lid, he was greeted with the same warm and delicious scent, but much weaker this time around. Hunk said with an apologetic tone that he had toned down the richness after Lance had told him what happened with the last batch.

Reading through reports, Shiro was thinking deeply about how they could breach the new Galra outpost the castle had found from intelligence they gathered from an informant on a nearby planet. He was concentrating so hard that he missed the quiet groan coming from the bed. It wasn’t until Keith started coughing that his attention was broken.

Keith’s head bobbed up and down from the pillow as his lungs tried to expel the mucus building up. His eyes opened blearily with every cough.

“Hey, you’re okay.” Shiro said gently. He disengaged the mask from Keith’s face and sat on the side of the bed to help him sit up before leaning him on his chest. Keith groaned and his head lulled backwards onto Shiro’s shoulder as he continued to cough wetly. Shiro pulled the blanket up back to Keith’s chest and grabbed a washcloth to cover his mouth before instructing him to cough and spit out the mucus. The red paladin did so, Shiro could feel the warm glob landing in his hand and tried not to grimace as he gauged how much was coming out. Keith’s body shook with the effort before calming down to the ever present trembling.

“Think you can drink some water, Keith?” Shiro asked him softly after balling up the washcloth and shooting it into a laundry basket that Allura brought up for them.

Through the thick fog in his head, Keith nodded once before letting a faint groan out of his chest. He could feel the straw being guided and he closed his lips around it. He could only take small slow sips, more often than not one at a time, before opening his mouth to take a breath between swallows. Shiro patiently waited the entire ten minutes it took for him to drink his fill before he released the straw from his mouth three quarters of the way through a pouch.

The fog was getting heavier and all he wanted to do was sleep. Keith closed his eyes and drifted as he felt Shiro shifting underneath him, putting the water pouch down on the nightstand beside him. He shivered, feeling colder with the water in his stomach. 

“Do you think you can maybe get some broth down? Hunk made a pot for you.” Keith heard Shiro ask. He cracked his eyes open slightly before shaking his head and starting taking deep breaths through his mouth. The room was dim, the light behind him coming from the two V-shaped lamps set in the wall. The overhead inlaid ceiling light had thankfully been turned off so the only light coming from above him were the stars as the castle lay unmoving. 

Shiro noticed the change in his breathing and could feel how hard Keith was working for each breath. “Go back to sleep. I’ll be right here, okay?” Shiro whispered to him, running a hand up and down his arm soothingly over the blankets.

Keith didn’t need another word, his eyes closed and immediately passed out while leaning against Shiro. He wanted nothing more than to give into the comforting blackness that dulled the pain of being awake.

Shiro grabbed the mask from where he left it and placed it gently against Keith’s face before flipping the switch. The mask lit up light blue and conformed to his face before a hiss signaled it was pulling oxygen from the surrounding area and delivering it to his face. He laid him down slowly, putting his head on the fluffy pillow and making sure the blankets were pulled up to his chin and tucked around his shoulders. Keith unconsciously nuzzled the side of his face into the soft surface of the pillow. His fingers moved under the blankets as they hooked and hugged the pillow on his stomach.

He watched as his breath fogged up the clear plastic-like material of the mask and cleared between breaths. Shiro glanced at the vitals screen and was satisfied when his oxygen saturation climbed back up. His temperature and pulse were still high while fighting the pneumonia and other infections in his body. He looked at the bags hooked up to his vein valve and was surprised that all three bags were nearly empty. Shiro’s stomach rumbled and he glanced down with an embarrassed expression even though no one was in the room with him besides an unconscious Keith.

As if right on cue, Coran appeared with a variety of items in his hands and hanging over his forearms. He deposited a tray of food into Shiro’s lap as he sat back down in front of Allura’s vanity, threw a small pile of clothes that Shiro identified as the tank top and pants he wore to sleep, placed a small bottle of green pain pills on the table, and unhooked and rehooked Keith to new fluid bags. 

“How is he, Number One?” Coran asked briskly, but quietly, as he changed the bags and read his vitals.

“He woke up just a minute ago and coughed but I got him to drink some water before he wanted to sleep more. I helped him go to the bathroom a while ago, too. He filled up another jug.” Shiro said in between bites of Hunk’s cooking, the meat-like substance warming him up and satiating his stomach nicely.

“As predicted. The steroid is leaving his body along with all the liquid he had been holding onto.” Coran said. “His temperature and pulse leave much to be desired, though.”

“We’ll just have to let him keep sleeping and sneaking water and broth into him when we can. That’s what my mom did to me when I was younger and caught pneumonia after being out in the snowy mountains for far too long.” Shiro shrugged, looking at Keith’s sleeping face. “I keep reminding him when he comes to that I’m here. It’s like he always wants someone around when he wakes up. I guess that’s part of the trauma.”

Coran nodded. “He has not just a tough road to physically recover, but mentally as well. You know that, Shiro.” 

Shiro grimly agreed. “I’ll be here for him as long as it takes.”

“But don’t forget to take care of yourself as well, lad.” Coran said, his eyes softening as he looked at him. “We’re all here to help Keith but you need to know when it gets too much, too.”

“I know, I will.” Shiro replied hesitantly. 

“Now,” Coran clapped his hands together slowly. “I’ll have Lance bring in a cot so you can sleep. And don’t get me on the ‘I’ll be okay’ answer because you need sleep as much as Keith here.” 

Shiro smiled wryly. He nodded as he finished up the tray of food. 

Coran continued to flit about the room, fussing over Keith as he lay there oblivious to the world around him. The red haired Altean peeled the backing off of a strip of some kind of sticker which Shiro later learned was a self cooling patch in the hopes that it would cool Keith’s fever down during the night. He placed two on either side of Keith’s temples, gingerly avoiding the scabs that formed.

The two of them chatted quietly before the door slid open with a quiet hiss and Lance hauled in a cot. Shiro helped to set it up at the foot of the bed where he could see Keith’s face if the sleeping paladin woke up at all during the night. He asked Lance to stay with Keith while he went to get ready for bed.

Returning from the bathroom, Shiro saw Lance sitting by Keith’s side running a hand through his hair. 

“Is he okay?” Shiro asked as he sat on the other side.

“Yeah, he just coughed for a second and went back to sleep. I don’t think he even knew he was awake.” Lance told him. “Seems like he’s getting worse, Shiro.”

“I think part of it is him escaping to somewhere safe. He’s been alone for so long until we found him that his body and mind doesn’t quite know he’s back with us. It’ll just take time and patience until he can really feel like he’s home. I know it took me a while to feel the same way.” Shiro placed a hand on Lance’s shoulder across the bed. “You should rest. You look like you haven’t been sleeping well either.”

Lance nodded sadly, his face forlornly looking at Keith’s. “I… I just keep thinking of when we rescued him. How…” He took a deep breath. “How broken he looked. I don’t want to see him this still ever again. He’s always been the fastest of us and it just felt like I failed him. I should have… I don’t know… it feels like I should have looked harder for him.Then we wouldn’t have to put all these pieces back together again.” A tear dripped down his face. 

Shiro stood up and walked around the bed and pulled Lance into a hug. There, the blue paladin muffled his cries into Shiro’s shoulder.

“There was nothing any of us could have done. You shouldn’t blame yourself for not looking harder. It was lucky that Pidge had found the flyer in the market that we had a hint Keith would be there. You did everything you could and you shouldn’t blame yourself at all. We found him and he’s here with us now. I don’t think he’ll blame you or any of us for not finding him sooner.” Shiro said, his chin resting on top of Lance’s head. 

An idea sprung to his head. “Why don’t you sleep with Blue tonight? I think she would help you sleep for a while and you can get away from being alone in your room.” Shiro suggested.

Lance thought for a moment before nodding. “So-sounds good.” He sniffled. “Can I come back and stay with him tomorrow morning?”

“You don’t need to ask, Lance.” Shiro smiled. “I’m sure he’d be happy to have you here with him for a while.” He pulled the younger man into his arms for another hug. “Go get some rest and I’ll see you tomorrow morning, okay?”

The blue paladin nodded and ran a hand through Keith’s hair one last time before leaving. Shiro sighed when the door slid shut. 

“Get better soon, Keith. We need you here with us.” Shiro placed a hand on his cheek and ran his thumb over his protruding cheekbone.

Getting into bed, Shiro turned on his side facing Keith and placed a hand under his head. As he started to drift off, he could feel Black rumbling in his head and that sent waves of warmth through as he fell into a deep sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter but I hope you can still enjoy it. Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> 8/3/2020


	7. Day 4

Keith slept through the night and into the morning. His oxygen masked face peaceful as it lay turned against the pillow. His mouth was slightly open as he breathed in and out. Dull colors and muffled sounds were his dreams as he drifted. He could feel hands touching him in various places of his body as he flitted in and out of brief awareness from time to time. The pull of sleep was too great and Keith slept, unaware of anything happening around him. 

He could feel the presence of rumbling keeping him comforted in the back of his mind, a red color coming behind his eyelids whenever the rumbling vibrated through his body. It felt familiar. Like someone was watching out for him inside as his family cared for him on the outside. His mind wandered, not knowing who he was or what he was in the fogginess in his brain.

A weight laid over him, the pressure soothing his limbs from moving closer to himself. Humming, from time to time, sounded somewhere in front of him in hushed voices. Keith tried to make out the words but after two seconds, he couldn’t care less as he lay there and slipped back into the darkness and everything disappeared from his senses. 

It started to feel hot, he tried to move the weight off his body, now smothering in its heat covering him.The weight was lifted off and something lighter lay over him now. A hand covered his forehead and Keith cracked his eyes open. Blurrily, he could make out a tuft of white hair and a scarred nose. He groaned and closed his eyes again, the effort to simply look draining his energy. As his awareness drifted, something cold was laid on his forehead. It felt nice, helping to cool the heat he could feel rising from his chest. The darkness pulled him under again, a sigh leaving him as he fell asleep.

The next time he came up from the darkness, a few quiet clicks and movements sounded in his ears. He kept his eyes closed as whatever was making the noise continued to do so. Something was set on the ground, a little bit of shuffling, a small sigh, fabric being slipped off. Keith turned his head towards the sounds and inhaled through his nose before slightly opening his eyes halfway. The room was dim, nearly dark. A figure in black, white, and blue was in front of him. He gazed unfocused on his sheet covered knees and continued to breathe, the motion of drawing air in always seemed harder when he was awake. 

“-eith?” 

He blinked slowly before starting to look up at the sound. The figure had moved in front of him. 

“Keith? Are you awake?” The voice asked.

Oh. That’s right. He was Keith. He gave a slight moan and tried to hone in to the person speaking.

“You’re okay. It’s me, Lance. You’ve been sleeping for awhile. You’re okay.” Lance told him, placing a hand on Keith’s stomach. He sat on the side of the bed.

“L’nce…?” Keith whispered breathily as he looked up into his face and focused on the mocha colored boy.

“Yeah, I’m here buddy. I’m not going anywhere.” Lance gave him a small smile.

Keith nodded as he blinked slowly. His mouth fell further open as he panted for air before coughing. 

“Shi’ro?” He said after catching his breath. 

Lance ran his hand up and down Keith’s sheet covered arm. “He’s okay. He’s off in the training hall right now. He’ll be back in a little bit. Something about wanting to work his stress off. I just came back from shooting practice with Hunk.” 

Keith nodded again and moved his eyes around the room. It was as he remembered it the last time he woke up, nothing much had changed except for a cup here or there, an empty basin near him in case of vomit or mucus, the glow of the stars from the window in front of him.

“Ti’me?” He raspily asked Lance. 

The blue paladin thought for a second before answering. “Well, I woke up pretty late today after being in Blue all night and she was helping me sleep so I didn’t get up until midmorning and came in here to see how you were before I went to train so I think it’s about afternoon now.”

Keith blinked owlishly, time seemed motionless to him as he slept. His throat felt bone dry and scratchy. He moved a hand out from under the sheet and molded his fingers into the shape of a cup before rotating his wrist towards his mouth.

“Water?” Lance asked. “Let me grab a pouch. I’ll be right back.” 

Lance moved off the bed and walked to the table of supplies and plucked a pouch up from the piles of supplies.

Meanwhile, Keith tried to sit up on his own. Using his elbows, he winced as he propped himself up before rediscovering the bruises as he pressed into the bed. The skin on his hips stretched and he could the scabs on the scrapes and wounds pull and crack back open under bandages. He fell back with a cry of pain.

“Whoa, whoa.” Lance said surprisingly. “Let me help. Coran said not to let you do anything yet until you’ve healed more.” He dropped the unopened pouch onto the bed and helped him to lay down again. Grabbing a few pillows, he slid an arm under Keith’s shoulders and lifted his torso slightly to recline him. His head tilted backwards before Lance moved the fluffy pillow he had been laying on back up behind his head. It felt good to sit up after being laid flat for so long. Lance moved the pillows under his knees a little further down the bed but still under his legs. A pillow was placed in his lap under his bent forearms.

Keith reached his hands over to where the pouch was and clumsily tried to grasp it, his fingers uncooperative. 

Lance gently took it and stabbed the straw through the top. He gave it to the bedridden paladin and sat back down on the side of the bed. “The broth is still here if you want some of that, too. It might help your throat a little bit. My mama used to make this delicious homemade broth whenever I got strep throat back on Earth. My siblings would try to steal some before I came to the table.” As he talked, Lance disengaged the mask from Keith’s face. “She would add some rice, chicken, and soft carrots, too. It was almost like porridge, it never failed to warm me up.”

Taking slow sips of the water pouch, Keith listened to Lance’s chatter. His stomach hurt slightly from the liquid but the chill cooled him down from his fevered state. Keith held onto the pouch with both hands trembling slightly from the pain of bringing his arms up to his face. 

“Thanks, Lance.” Keith said quietly, leaning his head back on the pillow behind him. He took in a deep breath and then winced, bringing a hand to his ribs. “Ow.” He whispered, his voice pitched slightly higher than usual.

Lance plucked one of his arm grieves up off the ground and put it on, turning on the x-ray sensor. He gave a low whistle when the image finished compressing and popped up above his arm. “Your ribs look…”

“Broken?” Keith asked, his voice slightly clearer after drinking the water. As fast as the water cooled his core, everything started feeling too cold to the red paladin. He tried to bring the blanket up around his shoulders. Shivering, Keith pulled his arms closer to him in an attempt to preserve what little body heat he felt in his core.

“Well, yes, but it certainly doesn’t look comfortable.” Lance looked up from the floating screen. “You’re shivering.” He remarked.

Nodding, Keith let his eyes slowly close. “The- the water was cool. Cold, now.” He replied, the shivering sapping his energy as he laid back against the pillows. The pillow in his lap was soft and warm laying under his arms. He coughed as the pressure in his chest built up. The ever present headache and chest pain throbbed dully. Keith breathed through his mouth shallowly, each breath barely staying in his lungs before the need for more comes.

Lance pulled the blanket up to Keith’s chin, over his trembling shoulders. Keith murmured gratefully, his eyes opened briefly to look at the blue paladin. Taking a look at the monitor on the nightstand, Lance could see that his temperature had risen to 102.1 degrees. He hid the frown from his face as he made a mental note to send Coran a message about the rise in the fever.

The headache soon became throbbing enough to fog up Keith’s thoughts as he tried to stay conscious. Lance was talking to him but he heard vowels and consonants rather than full words. He blearily opened his eyes to try and read Lance’s face as he was talking. “Sur’... I’ll mak’ the… wha’ev’r you said…” He answered, thinking Lance had asked him to create something. “Jus… giv’ me-“ Keith broke off into a coughing fit. As he coughed, he could feel something big and gooey come up his throat at land in his mouth. Quickly, he closed his lips but the urge to cough and breathe was quickly becoming urgent. He tried to cough with his mouth closed as pain lanced through his healing ribs and sore abdomen. 

The mask was quickly removed and he felt the lip of the basin against his chin and took it as the cue to spit out the mucus in his mouth. Spit trailed from his lips to the larger than usual chunk of yellow phlegm in the basin. Keith continued to cough and expel mucus until stars appeared in his vision from coughing so deeply that it left him gasping. A towel gently wiped away the fluid on his lips as he leaned his head back on the pillow behind him. Keith laid there trying to take deep breaths through his mouth until a straw rested on his bottom lip. He automatically slipped it into his mouth and took a sip of the water pouch. The liquid soothed the rawness of his throat as he swallowed. 

Lance held the pouch there until Keith had his fill. The pouch soon emptied and shrivelled up. “Just rest, your fever is going up. We can give you antibiotics in a day or two from what Coran said. Then the pneumonia and coughing will go away.” He rested a hand on Keith’s forehead and ran a thumb along his hairline.

Keith tilted his head up and squinted at him as he talked, his eyebrows furrowed. The words sounded like he was listening through static. “Will… do it… in the… mornin’... jus’ need… to tell… Koli...van… Nee’ to… pol’ish… swor’ blade…” 

“Shh… just sleep.” Lance tried to keep the worry out of his voice, never having seen Keith be confused as he was at the moment. He replaced the mask over Keith’s lower face and watched as he coughed once as the mask turned on and supplied oxygen. 

His eyes fluttering shut, Keith immediately drifted off with a soothing pressure on his forehead and his throat soothed by the cool air.

Lance dimmed the lights behind the bed and tucked the one blanket over Keith around his trembling shoulders more firmly. Shiro had taken off the two other blankets because of the fear of overheating the infirm red paladin. He gently lifted Keith’s back, supporting his neck and head, and removed the pillows to lay him down flat on the bed again. 

Keith started muttering in his sleep as Lance moved down to his legs and tucked the blanket around his battered feet. His arms twitched and moved restlessly. 

Lance sat back down on the cot at the foot of the bed and slumped over with his elbows resting on his knees. He watched sadly as Keith’s stomach moved up and down with breath while he slept. Taking the tablet he dropped beside him earlier, he shot off a message to Coran about Keith’s temperature and confusion. Almost immediately, the tablet lit up with a reply from Coran stating he’ll be back when the training was finished with Shiro. 

He finished doffing his armor and setting it neatly in an easy to grab pile by the doorway. The leg and forearm pieces hooked strategically in the chest piece like how he saw the high school students back on earth grabbed their football helmets inside the pads. Lance stared out the window, looking at the light of numerous stars twinkling as he let himself zone out slightly, the only sounds coming from the steady drone of the castle and breaths coming from Keith.

The door slid open and Lance turned around to see Coran and Shiro entering, the latter with damp hair and in casual clothing. 

“Hm…” Coran hummed as he took a look at Keith’s monitor. “You were right to get my attention. His fever has been steadily going up.”

“Why?” Shiro asked as he sat on the edge of the bed, his hand brushing away the hair on Keith’s forehead. He frowned as he felt how hot the skin there was.

“He wasn’t… kept in the most clean of conditions.” Coran said delicately. “His immune system is working overtime. We’ll have to keep trying to build up his strength and his immunity. I think it would be best if we limit who comes in and out of this room until he’s stronger. The less we introduce foreign particles, the less his body has to fight off.” 

“So, isolation?” Shiro confirmed. Coran nodded as he injected another medication into Keith’s vein valve. “I’ll stay here with him but Coran, you’ll have to go in and out. You need to help Allura steer the castle and I can’t ask you to stay here with him.”

“You’re right, I can’t.” Coran said grimmly. “I’ll take protective measures when I come in. If anything, I’ll have you do the fluid bag changes, Shiro. I’ll bring up more medical supplies and the defibrillator in case he takes a turn for the worse again.” 

Shiro nodded, his mouth set in a grim line. His thumb gently running along Keith’s hairline.

Coran continued to talk about provisions with Shiro and Lance tuned them out as he took the sleeping paladin’s hand in his own and tried not to flinch with the heat radiating from his trembling palm. He took a more detailed look at the myriad of pinpricks and long healed puncture marks on his exposed forearm. The scars dark along the ivory skin made more pale by illness, his veins prominently blue with the shadows of the arteries on the underside of his wrist. Rubbing his thumb along the back of Keith’s hand, Lance looked at Keith’s sleeping face. His eyebrows were furrowed while he slept, his face not looking like it was at peace even while he slept. 

Oblivious to the world, Keith dreamed he was back in the cage. The muzzle on his face, his limbs shackled and restricted to the floor, and the air around him stifling cold. He curled onto his side and moved his arms and legs closer to his chest to conserve what little body heat he could keep to himself. Closing his eyes, he fervently whispered “Please… find me.” A shiver ran through him. “Anyone… find me.” He brought his hands further up his biceps and he tried to drift off into an uncomfortable blackness, the desperation and misery surrounding his mind.

“Lance?”

The blue paladin’s attention snapped to Shiro talking to him. “Sorry, wasn’t paying attention.”

Shiro gave him a sad smile. “It’s fine.” He reached across the bed and laid a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “Coran and I are going to get supplies so I can stay in here with him. Are you going to be okay staying here for a half an hour or so?”

“Yeah, yeah. Of course.” Lance said. “If you’re headed back to your room, can you stop by mine on the way and drop off my armor for me?” He tilted his head toward the pile by the door.

Shiro nodded as he and Coran walked out. Lance stood up and moved his body a little as he felt the muscle soreness in certain spots starting to set in. His neck felt particularly tender before he remembered the shot the training bot scored on him while Hunk had momentarily moved away from his back to set up his cannon. 

Keith continued to sleep as Lance moved quietly around the room. Shiro and Coran returned shortly, a cart being wheeled in before them loaded with supplies. Shiro looked slightly waterlogged and had a weary expression on his face.

Lance cocked his head at the black paladin. “Did you… take another shower?” 

“Yeah.” Shiro admitted. “I rushed through the earlier one and I wanted to make sure I was completely clean before I came back.” He started to unload the cart, taking a compact table and expanding it to set up alongside a wall. Coran exchanged Keith’s fluid bags while Shiro and Lance set up supplies in Allura’s room. 

“Alright,” Coran said quietly. “I think everything is set for awhile. We should let Keith have some quiet and let you have some sleep as well, Shiro. You’ll get alerts from me on your tablet if I need you to change or do anything. Let me know if he has any changes. I’ll be up here in the morning and I’m sure the others will stop by but they’ll know they can’t enter the room.” 

Shiro’s eyes blinked slowly. “Sounds great. Thanks for everything, you two.” 

Lance came up to Keith to make sure everything was settled with the sleeping paladin. He laid his hand in Keith’s and gave him the gentlest squeeze. It might have been his imagination but he felt Keith’s fingers twitch in his.

Once Coran and Lance left, Shiro took a few minutes in the bathroom to change into his pajamas and brush his teeth. He checked the vitals sign and sighed deeply. Keith’s temperature was steadily rising but from what Coran said, his body was able to tolerate higher temperatures due to his half Galran heritage so the hope was that as he continued to rest, the medications would lower the fever and eliminate the infections.

Shiro turned out the lights and laid down on the cot with his face turned towards Keith, watching his chest rise and fall with his short and labored breaths. 

“You’re here, and we’re not letting you go, little brother.” Shiro whispered into the dim room. He closed his eyes and let himself drift off

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone! I’m so sorry for such the long wait between chapters. The previous chapters I wrote in a fever pitch and that slowly fizzled out into burnout so I needed to take a break and then life happened with holidays and lockdowns happening. I have not, nor do I intend to, stopped writing for this story. I feel like this is a half-assed chapter because half of it was written way back in September 2020 but I have a clear plan for how this is going to go. I’ll be updating this until it’s done. 
> 
> Next chapter will be a heavy Keith/Shiro chapter but just so everyone knows, there won’t be any shipping of any of the team in this fic. The love shown is familial and they all love and support each other. 
> 
> 1/31/21

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a review. I really hope you all like this so far, it’s my first fic in the Voltron fandom and I hope I didn’t let anyone down. Let me know if you want this to continue, a favorite line, what you think/want to happen next. I’d love any piece of feedback or just a kind word. Thank you!


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